Culinary Adventures

Beer Can Chicken( CI).......

2008-05-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

I seem to be one of those folks who's always behind on the latest cooking fads. Can you believe I've never even made the No Knead Bread??? It took me awhile to try beer can chicken and I'm really sorry I waited so long. I have this irrational fear of running out of propane in the middle of grilling. Thus, I never want to grill things that take hours and hours. I knew we were going to my MIL's for dinner on Sunday, so I decided to make this over there. My MIL has a direct gas hookup to her bbq( I'm smacking myself for not doing that when we did all our renovations). This seems like a fussy recipe, but its really very simple. I used the recipe and technique( loosely) from Cook's Illustrated. I bought 2 whole fryer's at Meijer in Port Huron, MI for .69lb( so cheap!!). I made a simple rub of parprika, salt, pepper, celery seed and thyme( I left out the cayenne). Instead of beer cans, I used two empty soup cans because they were sturdier. You fill those with beer and crumbled bay leaves( you can also use lemondae of ginger ale or whatever). I also used mesquite chips that I soaked for an hour. Those went right on the coals in a disposable pie plate( CI says make a foil packet, but I used the plate). We did have to flip the birds around a few times since they cook on indirect heat. The end result was a moist very tasty bird. I only had the breast meat and it was really good. This is something I'll defintely make again.

Rhubarb raspberry pie.......

2008-05-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

Its no secret that I'm a cake kinda girl. Plain, frosted, layer, sheet, bundt, I'm sure you get the picture. Its not often that I'll turn down a piece of cake. My Mother-in-law however, is a pie gal. She loves pie( as do most of the older folks around these parts). Since yesterday was Mother's Day, Robin and I whipped her mom up a nice pie. I've always been afraid of lattice, but I wanted to do it this time because I knew it would showcase all the ruby red fruit. I used my go to pie dough recipe for pate brise. I love the taste of an all butter crust even though my MIL prefers lard( egad!!). The filling is simply 4 cups of chopped rhubarb, a cup of raspberries, a cup of sugar( I used vanilla sugar) and 1/4c. of minute tapioca. I've made lots of pies since moving to Ontario and I have to say that as a pie thickener, I prefer the tapioca over flour or cornstarch.

Robin did the lattice using the really simple intructions we found over on simply recipes. I eggwashed the top and sprinkled some turbinado sugar over the whole lot.

Now, if we can just get the hang of this new camera, we'd be set.

Mimi's carrot walnut raisin bread......

2008-05-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty much an "anti chain" restaurant type of person, especially in Florida. There are so many fabulous independent restaurant choices that I dont understand why someone would visit an Olive Garden or a Red Lobster. Thats not to say that I dont eat at any chains. When I go to Port Huron, I basically have no choice as almost all the restaurants there are chains. Jimmy John's sandwiches just opened up there and I'm not ashamed to say that I really like the #12.

My ex's mom used to take us to Mimi's cafe in Phoenix when we'd go back for a visit. I loved, loved, loved the carrot raisin walnut bread. Mimi's would always give you one small slice in their breadbasket. It would be the first peice I'd pick up. I found this copycat recipe( Top Secret Recipes) and I'm happy to report that the taste is very similar. I did make a few substitutions as I had pecans instead of walnuts. I also had a breakfast blend of dried fruits so I used that. Next time I make this, I'll reduce the oil to 3/4 cup(from 1 cup). I found it to be slightly greasy. Its dead simple to make and the recipe makes 2 loaves.

Spinach Lasagna( CI)........

2008-04-24T05:33:00.001-07:00

Yummy!! This lasagna rocks. Here we have another winner from Cook's Illustrated. I've made this a few other times, but couldnt remember if I'd blogged about it. Its a bechamel based sauce with 1 cottage cheese layer. I've never been a fan of CC in my lasagna, I much prefer ricotta, but you puree the cheese in a food processor and it really works well. This lasagna is pretty much so you only need a small slice. Thats a good thing because I made a German Chocolate Cake for dessert that was amazing!!

Cowgirl chicken casserole and Shrimp Etouffee.....

2008-04-19T07:19:00.000-07:00

One day last year I was surfing through the zillions of foodblogs and found a recipe for a chocolate peanut butter pie. The recipe came from Emeril's book called PotLuck kicked up comfort food with attitude. The book was less than 1.00 used so I bought it. We were invited to a bday party potluck on Friday so I pulled out the book and found these two recipes. I REALLY wanted to make the shrimp etouffee because shrimp was on sale ( 31-40) for a really low price of 3.99 a bag. Robin nixed that idea saying a lot of people don't really like shellfish so I made it for us instead. It was super easy to make and really tasty. Etouffee means smothered and thats basically what it was. You start by making a light roux and then you add the famous cajun trinity. Bell peppers, onions and celery. Shrimp stock is added next( I used Better than Boullion lobster stock and it worked fine) and this mixture simmers for awhile. Shrimp is added in last and its served over rice. I had some white rice leftover from a Chinese food meal we had so it was a snap to reheat.

We decided on this cowboy( I renamed it cowgirl) chicken casserole for the Friday Potluck. I did a lot of the prep on Thursday night so it came together fast. Emerils recipes include a lot of steps, but the flavor really comes thru. This dish consists of diced or shredded chicken( you poach it in a flavorful broth) over crushed crunchy tortilla chips. Next you make a mushroom bechamel( no canned soup here!!) and pour that over. Diced onions, peppers, cheese and spices round out the next layer. Oh and lots of shredded cheese. Canned chopped tomatoes and green chilies finish it off. It bakes for 40 min and voila!! It was very tasty and as you can see, it make a huge dish.

ps: The blogger upload picture thing wasnt working so I had to use a cut and paste from snapfish. The pics are big, sorry for that.

Big super nutty peanut butter cookies(CI)......

2008-04-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

We all know by now that Robin is a peanut butter freak, a title she wears happily. My friend J is also a lover of all things peanut butter. I'm off to Ann Arbor to visit J and her partner for a few days so I thought I'd whip these up. The recipe came to me in the America's Test Kitchen newsletter and as per usual, Cook's Illustrated didnt dissapoint. These were very peanutty, thanks to a dose of chopped nuts. I actually halved the recipe but while mixing I realized I added the full amount of peanut butter. I didnt have another full stick of butter softened, but I did have 2 tbls so I used that and proceeded with the recipe( but I did use only half the amount of chopped nuts). They're still really good, next time I make them I'll use the correct amount of butter. I used the ridged side of my meat pounder to make the marks( spray it with pam first).

Big, Super-Nutty Peanut Butter Cookies Add to Favorites Shopping List
Bringing the butter, peanut butter, and eggs to room temperature makes it easier to blend the ingredients. Be sure to grind the peanuts, since whole, and even chopped peanuts tend to slip out of the dough. If using unsalted butter, increase salt to 1 teaspoon. Keep finished cookies refrigerated in airtight container. To restore just-baked chewiness, wrap a cookie in a sheet of paper towel and microwave for approximately 25 seconds. Cool before serving.
Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 pound butter (2 sticks), salted
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup extra-crunchy peanut butter , preferably Jif
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup roasted salted peanuts , ground in food processor to resemble bread crumbs, about 14 pulses (about 1 cup, packed)

1. Adjust oven rack to low center position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.

2. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes with electric mixer, stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary. Beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Gently stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture. Add ground peanuts; stir gently until just incorporated.

3. Working with 2 tablespoons dough at a time (see illustration 1 below), roll into large balls, placing them 2 inches apart on a parchment-covered cookie sheet. Following illustration 2, press each dough ball with back of dinner fork dipped in cold water to make crisscross design. Bake until cookies are puffed and slightly brown along edges, but not top, 10 to 12 minutes (they will not look fully baked). Cool cookies on cookie sheet until set, about 4 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, up to 7 days.

Grilled pizza's( Cook's Illustrated) and a puppy....

2008-04-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

Robin and I have a favorite pizza place. We love it so much that we could eat it for breakfast( we havent), lunch or dinner. Unfortunately, the pizza place is in S. Florida. We're both a big fan of thin crust pizza though so we really enjoy this Cook's Illustrated recipe for grilled pizza. We hosted a small cooking get-together a couple weeks ago and I demonstrated the pizza dough, sauce and grilling method. One of the couple's brought their new dachshund puppy over and Oliver and Harley fell in love!! I've wanted another dachshund for awhile now and was hoping that the cute puppy would sway Robin( We're not having 3 dogs!!) but alas he didnt.

Nevertheless, we had great grilled pizza and a fabulous chopped salad. Some of the varieties I made were.
Pesto w/ grilled veg and goat cheese
marinara w/ pepperoni and fresh mozzarella
marinara w/ sun dried tomato chicken sausage, fresh mozzarella and romano.
bbq sauce, chicken, red onion, cilantro and mozz.

Meyer Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake.....

2008-04-03T16:29:00.001-07:00

When I was in Florida last month, I met up with Egulleter Kathryn. We had a great time going out for lunch( Cuban Food), shopping at a restaurant supply and a Super Target and going out to a favorite restaurant for dinner. When we met up, Kathryn gave me 5 of the biggest Meyer Lemons I'd ever seen. These things were huge. They were the size of grapefruits. I gave one to my sister and my BIL made a pasta dish with it. I schlepped the other 4 back to Canada. The day after I arrived back in Canada, I had a dr. appt and I pulled it out to show the nurse. She actually walked around the office showing everyone because she'd never seen a lemon that big either. I found this recipe in Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins and More ,a book I checked out of the library. The flavor and texture were divine and while a bit fussy to make( anything to requires separating eggs is fussy to me), it was well worth it. I was excited too, to use my new loaf pan I picked up at Williams- Sonoma. I've always been a big believer in the saying " You get what you pay for". This is my second pan in the goldtouch series( I also have the 9 x 13) and I'm a big fan!!

Easter Brunch.......

2008-03-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

Hi. Remember me? I used to be really good about blogging almost everything I make. I still take pics of what I cook, but sometimes life gets in the way. I started a new job baking 3 days a week. I still have my other job cooking for the Seniors. I was really sick 2 weeks ago and then I went to FL for 9 days. I'm back now, ready to blog.

Robin really loves Hot Cross buns, but she said she's never had a really fresh one( she always has to toast them). I remedied that, by whipping up this recipe. I searched online, but then went to my massive cookbook collection and pulled out a bread machine cookbook. I really have no qualms about making dough in the machine, especially when I'm making 3 other things too. I decided on this recipe because it used skim milk( I didnt want to go out and buy whole milk) and I had everything on hand. Actually, I take that back. The recipe called for dried currants and dried apricots. I had the latter, not the former. I did have a mix of dried fruits(breakfast blend) by Sunsweet. It contained dates, 2 different raisins and prunes so I used that. It worked out well. The dough was super simple using AP flour, brown sugar, mace( I used a shake of pumpkin pie spice) eggs, butter, milk, yeast and salt. When the dough cycle is finished, you dump out the dough and knead in the dried fruits. After forming into rolls, you let rise again, slash the top and bake. After they were in the oven for about 5 min, I realized I forgot to slash the crosses into the top( Hey, I'm Jewish, I dont often make crosses). I hoped it would still work and it was fine. I just mixed up the glaze( powdered sugar, milk and vanilla or Fiori Di Sicillia). I let them cool for a few minutes then made the crosses by drizzling them on with a spoon. It worked out pretty well. Everyone loved them!! On my way back to Canada from the airport( in Detroit) last week, I stopped at Nino Salvaggio's
and picked up some Vermont Butter and Cheese Company Cultered Butter. It was divine on these.

I also made a smoked salmon, mushroom and asparagus quiche( The crust is Pate Brise, I subbed 1/4c. of WW flour in place of some of the AP flour)and roasted fingerling potatoes. I love these potatoes. I picked up a bag at our local grocery store( PC Brand) for 1.50. I'm always stunned when I can find gourmet stuff in our small town.

I didnt get a picture of the fabulous yogurt granola parfaits I made. I used Liberte organic vanilla yogurt. OMG, that stuff is TOO DIE FOR!! Robin said it was like eating heavy cream. I normally always look at labels( and prices) at the grocery store, but for some odd reason( subconciously maybe I didnt want to know) I didnt. I was shocked to see it had 15g of fat for 175g serving. It was also 4.79 for 750g. When I made the parfaits, I used probably 2 heaping tablespoons of the yogurt so I didnt feel too guilty. I also used some blackberries( from Mexico) and some semi tasteless strawberries from Cali. I really can't wait until we have Ontario strawberries. Those rock and last year I made a killer jam with them.

No big meal tonight. I'm going to have some blintzes my mom made for me and I schlepped back from Florida!!

Marcy's Legendary Choc. Chip Cookies......

2008-03-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

I mentioned before that I have a new job. I'm working( baking) for a caterer in who works out of a market in the old North section of London. In addition to preparing for catering job, my boss sells prepared foods( frozen and fresh) and lots of baked goods. He wanted to expand the repetoire so I suggested scones, cakes and some different cookies. I mentioned making big cookies ala Starbucks and did a trial run on Friday. The recipe I picked didnt work out so well( spread too much), although the flavor was good. I found this recipe based on the suggestion from the author of A Passion for Baking.
. I did a trial run yesterday baking two different sizes a 4.5oz ball and a 6.5 oz ball. I think we found a winner in the smaller ball, although its still a really large cookie. In addition to chocolate chips( I used chunks), the cookie also contains chopped chocolate( I used Bittersweet Pound Plus from Trader Joe's). I've always been a purist when it comes to CC cookies( I've never liked nuts) so these really hit the spot, crisp on the outside yet chewy on the inside. I portioned out the doughballs and frozen them and I'm going to bring one to work tomorrow to bake off so my boss can try it.

I really love A Passion for Baking. I checked it out of the library and then realized I had to buy it because I wanted to bake every single thing in it. Check it out, you wont be sorry!!

squirrel feet.......

2008-03-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

Note to self: On a beautiful bright and sunny day, don't leave a pan of toblerone shortbread on the deck and expect to find them untouched!!

I've been enjoying Marcy Goldman's A Passion for Baking these last few weeks. I've made a number of recipes and I was totally looking forward to trying this one. Robin is having a catered party when I'm in Florida next week( oh, btw, I'm doing the catering). I baked half a batch of these one afternoon, but alas our furry little white squirrel friends had a taste so I had to dump them!!

I've been MIA these last few weeks because I started a new job in London. I'm working as a pastry chef for a caterer and its a lot of fun. I get to try lots of new recipes and its rewarding to see people ask for my baked goods. I'm totally exhausted when I get home and since I've started working there, I havent baked anything at home. I also came down with a nasty, nasty cold last Friday and its still hanging around. I'm flying out to Florida on Tuesday so I really hope the cold is over by then.

Butterfinger cookies......

2008-02-22T05:52:00.000-08:00

Monday was a new holiday here called Family Day, it was also President's day so we decided to take off for a few days of eating out and shopping in Ann Arbor, MI. We like to visit Target a lot so we made it a point to check out 4 different Target stores on our trip. We hit the motherload of clearance sales when we found all the remaining Valentine candy for 90% off. As long as the chocolate is decent, I can chop it up and use it for baking. We ended up buying about 10 packages of butterfinger hearts. The reason I love these is because unlike a butterfinger candy bar, this is real chocolate. The butterfinger candy bars are mockolate!! I found this cookie recipe and I'm happy to report they're fabulous. I only made one change which was to use 1/4c. of brown sugar instead of all the white sugar. Next time, I'll use an even amount of both brown and white. The recipe does call for butterfinger candy bars, use them if you want, but they wont taste the same.

Butterfinger Cookies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened (we recommend LAND O LAKES® Butter)
1 large egg
1 cup (about three 2.1-ounce bars) coarsely chopped NESTLɮ BUTTERFINGER® Candy Bars

PREHEAT oven to 375°F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat sugar
and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg;
gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in Butterfinger pieces.
Drop by slightly rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on
baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Lazy Daisy cake(TOH)........

2008-02-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

I whipped this cake up in litterally 5 minutes the other night. It was a cinch and it had a great flavor. This is an old-fashioned recipe that has been around for awhile so I decided I'm going to make it for the seniors when I cook for them next Thursday. The cake is basically a hot milk sponge cake with a broiled coconut topping. I love coconut so I loved the toping!! Robin isnt a super huge coconut fan, but she enjoyed it. I cut the recipe in half and made it in a 9inch square pan.

Here is the full recipe for a 9 x 13
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 c. milk( I used skim with no ill effects)
1/4 c. butter

topping
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. butter( I actually will cut down the butter next time I make it)
1/2 c. half and half
2 cups coconut.

In mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla for 4 minutes. Add flour, baking powder and salt. In a saucepan, heat milk and butter to a boil, stiring constantly. Add to batter, mix until combined. Pour into greased pan and bake at 350 for 30-45 min.

Combine topping ingredients, spread over warm cake. Broil until light brown 3-4 minutes.

Lawsuit muffins......

2008-02-16T16:48:00.000-08:00

Last week I checked 2 books out from our town's libary. A Passion for Baking and The best of Betterbaking.com. Both of these book are by Marcy Goldman. I have her other book, A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking as well. I loved that book so much, I ended up buying a copy for my mom. Its rare that I pick up a book and want to make EVERYTHING in them. Thats how I feel about these two books. I spotted this recipe for lawsuit muffins and of course loved the name and the story behind them. I whipped them up this morning as like Marcy suggested, I quadrupeled the topping to stash in my freezer. The muffins lend themselves to all types of fruit combinations. I used blackberries and lemon zest. You could also use blueberries, apples, cranberries, banana's, etc.

The muffins are oil based with a nice dose of buttermilk. They were very tender and flavorful. Leave me a comment with your email address if you want the recipe.

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie( CI)......

2008-02-15T05:24:00.000-08:00

I cooked for the Seniors yesterday morning( got home at 2pm) so I wanted to make something easy for dinner. Robin loves chicken pot pie, but I'm not crazy about making pie dough. I saw this a few weeks ago on America's Test Kitchen and filed it away in my memory. The recipe came together pretty quickly. I made the biscuits first and to make it even faster, I just cut them into wedges rather than use a biscuit cutter. I've never made cream biscuits before, we were impressed. I did use White Lily flour and they rose nice and high.

The only changes I made to the recipe were to use fresh cooked( microwave) carrots instead of a frozen carrot/pea blend. I usually always have frozen peas on hand but not frozen carrots and peas. I also use a fine herb blend( penzey's) because I didnt have any thyme. I added some leftover red potatoes too.

You can find the recipe Here.

90 minute cinnamon rolls.....

2008-02-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning with a sudden urge to bake some cinnamon rolls for Robin. I used this recipe, except I did make a few modifications. I used all butter because margarine is vile!! I also use 1/2 cup of white whole wheat flour and baked the rolls in a rectangular pan instead of muffin tins. I let them set up before I flipped them over. I also mixed up a quick glaze of powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Pretty good for only 90 minutes of work!! I made up a plate to take to my neighbors house as a thank you for plowing our driveway.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies......

2008-02-06T06:11:00.000-08:00

I love making a trip to Port Huron, MI the day after a major candy holiday( ya know the day after Halloween, Xmas, Vday or Easter). I fill my cart with half price candy for baking, because chocolate is so much more expensive over here( and I can't find mini reeces pb cups in my town). I was perusing Anna's blog and came across this recipe. She got it from Lara who got it from Allrecipes. Like Anna, I probably wouldnt have come across it on my own. This recipe came at a perfect time because I'm donating some refreshments for a charity event on Friday. I took the advice of some of the reviewers and used half butter and half shortening. I used to be anti shortening anything, but I've come to find out that I prefer it in some recipes. I dont think this is one of them though!! Some of the reviews said " This is the best cookie I've ever had". Me, I didnt think that. Maybe because I always prefer cake!! I didnt think the cocoa added anything to the mix. I also didnt have enough PB chips, nor did I have any reeces pieces. Robin loved them however!! I'll try them again when I have all the proper ingredients and with all butter.

Pancake day........

2008-02-05T16:40:00.000-08:00

In honor of Shrove Tuesday, we had ricotta pancakes for dinner. These were very light and fluffy with a nice flavor. I had half a container of ricotta left over from some calzones I made last weekend. If you didnt have any ricotta, I think pureed cottage cheese would work as well. I used this recipe and the only change I made was to cut the syrup recipe in half and use half buttermilk and half skim milk in the pancakes. I also used half sugar free syrup and half maple( I mix it myself and keep it in a bottle in the fridge). We really enjoyed them.

Here is a bonus pancake that I made a few weeks ago. In a nearby beach town, there is a restaurant that serves wonderful plate sized gingerbread pancakes year round. I found a recipe on Homesick Texan's blog and whipped them up. We liked them a lot too, although I wouldnt call them light and fluffy. They were pretty heavy. I served them to my 9yr old niece and she didnt care for them at all.

Yellow cupcakes( vegan) with choc.frosting( not vegan).....

2008-01-22T07:39:00.001-08:00

By now you know I'm not a Vegan and I probably will never be one( I really love dairy too much). I probably could become a vegetarian though. I havent eaten red meat in over 20 years and lately the thought of chicken or pork gives me bad shivers. I honestly don't like cleaning or touching raw chicken!!

You're probably asking "then why did she buy a vegan cookbook?" I bought Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World last year sometime because I thought so many of the cupcakes I'd see on other foodbloggers sites looked really good. I also thought " I'd still like to bake if I don't have any dairy or eggs in the house". That should be reason enough right?

Anyway, as I prepared our non-vegan dinner last night of Turkey burgers and oven baked fries, I decided I'd like a little treat for dessert. Aside from those chocolate brownie muffins, I havent baked anything in about 2 weeks.

I whipped out the book and decided on this basic yellow cupcake. The recipe came together in about 5 minutes. You clabber some soymilk( I used vanilla) with of cider vinegar in order to mimic buttermilk. You add your sugar to that along with some flavoring and 1/3c of oil. I used Fiori Di Sicilia, a citrus floraly vanilla flavoring from KA flour. You add the wet ingredients to the dry( flour, cornstarch, soda and powder) and thats it. I didnt even pull out the mixer!!

They smelled heavenly while they were baking, but I was still a bit skeptical. Since it was freezing outside( 12f), I popped them on the deck to cool for about 5 minutes. I frosted them with some simple chocolate frosting( NOT VEGAN) that I had leftover from a party I catered. If I was a vegan, obviously I would have whipped up a vegan frosting using margarine, but I dont even have any margarine in my house!!

I gave Robin a cupcake while explaining to her that these are vegan. Like the muffins, she was a bit skeptical!! How can you make a cupcake with no eggs?

The verdict? We liked them. They were light and not too sweet with a nice flavor. Next time, I'll try the chocolate kind. After all, I still have almost a full container of soymilk to use up......

Haddock w/Mushrooms and vermouth( Fine Cooking)....

2008-01-21T14:18:00.001-08:00

I picked up the January issue off Fine Cooking looking for something quick and easy to make for dinner on Friday. My eyes were drawn to the little pull-out section in the back titled " Quick Fish". I spotted this recipe because I knew that Haddock was on sale and cremini mushrooms were on sale too. The original recipe uses cod, but the footnotes say that any firm white fish can be substituted. It came together in about 15 minutes and was delicious served with some mashed potatoes.

Weight Watcher brownie muffins......

2008-01-18T08:31:00.001-08:00

I really debated about whether or not I should blog about these,because they're not gourmet or even blog worthy. I thought about it for a day and then said " why the heck not". I really wanted to blog about these, because I want this to come up on google if anyone is searching for a Weight Watcher Recipe for something sweet and simple.

As I mentioned last week, Robin and I started Weight Watchers( although I'm not being anal about every single point). I blogged last week over on Egullet with 2 other foodbloggers who were also watching their weight. One of them, has lost an impressive 200lbs already!! Anyway, I cooked a ton last week, along with packing Robin a snack container and lunch each day. All last week though, I craved something sweet with low points. I was browsing the cooking forum over on Garden Web and came across these. I think they're absolutely genius and I can't believe something can be so tasty with 2 ingredients and only 2 points( 3 if you use chocolate chips).

Now, don't hate on me because of the cake mix. I do have an organic mix in my pantry, but I was worried they wouldnt come out the same. One day I'll try them with that mix. For now, take my word that if you're dieting and in need of chocolate or your're a child, you'll probably love these. I think my neice Emily will love them and I've already instructed my sister to make them this weekend.

WW Brownie Muffins

1 box chocolate cake mix( can be devils food or dark chocolate)
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin( not pie filling).
6 ounces of choc. chips.

THATS IT!!!!!

No eggs, no oil, nothing else.

Mix the two really well( Mixture will be very thick) and scoop into sprayed muffin tins. Bake at 350 for around 13-15 min.

I topped mine with a few chips rather than adding them in.

I gave Robin one last night with about 3 tbls of organic vanilla ice cream and 1tbls of hot fudge( I made that!!) and she just about died. She couldnt believe they were 2 points each and only 2 ingredients. And no, you dont taste the pumpkin!!

Pssstttt......

2008-01-09T16:43:00.000-08:00

I'm blogging about weight watcher's along with two other gay foodbloggers over at Egullet. Check it out!! You don't need to be a registered member to read.

New Year's Eve Paella( Cook's Illustrated).....

2008-01-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

We're home!! Did you miss me? We had a glorius time in Florida. The weather was perfect,between 75-80F the entire time we were there. We managed to lay out in the sun almost every day( except xmas). We ate out a lot and believe it or not, I was looking forward to coming home and cooking. We usually get lobster on NY eve, but this year our supermarket was pre-cooking them. I decided to make a paella since I had some wonderful Spanish Paella rice lanquishing in the pantry that I picked up in Cleveland this summer. I also had the saffron, the chicken and the shrimp. I ended up buying clams, a piece marlin and the chorizo. It came out really well, very flavorful. I picked up 2 lobsters on sale for 8.77lb. I didnt really think about it, but the total was 15.50. Only when Robin picked out the palmful of meat( from both) did I realize that they were both under 1lb. Oh well, it was a nice garnish.

If you're having a party, its a great party dish because it made a huge pot!!

Fun in the sun!!

2007-12-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

We're off to Ft. Lauderdale until Dec 28th. See ya when we get back.

New deck with doggie ramp!!...

2007-12-04T12:24:00.000-08:00

How much do we love our weiner dogs? We had our contractor make a doggie ramp( it was Robin's idea actually) on our new deck. Dachshunds shouldnt go up and down stairs and now they don't have to.

How much am I looking forward to Xmas in Florida? We had over a foot of snow this weekend, yuck!!