shopping

Chocolate mini cupcakes

Less chocolately than Hersey’s recipe, good to have for treats, lunches etc other than cookies. Slightly over baked almost like a cookie or brownie bites..

Chocolate Sauce

Basically a chocolate mixture.
Sort of like a ganache .

I have used this as a spread like Nutella , very good on toast, pita bread, ice cream etc. or as a frosting if made in larger quantities .

In a Double boiler.

Semi sweet 60% cacao chips about 10 ounces
Heavy cream 1/2 cup?
Your fav espresso or strong brewed coffee.
Add:

Cinnamon, ground
Vanilla
Salt
1 egg

Coconut oil, defines the flavour other than using butter or other oils.
10x sugar

Most of the amounts were off the cuff, basically in a double boiler mixture, temper in the egg if necessary , heat through. Can be cooled and refrigerated for a thicker texture.
Crime de menthe liqueur , probably less than a shot, add last when chocolate is almost cool.

Rice and pork casserole with diced eggplant

Rice casserole
Basically a baked rice casserole with vegetables, eggplant, onion, carrots, greens and pork neck.

Rice , one cup
Water, 2 cups, with a bit of beef broth instant beef broth. Season with ancho pepper flakes.
Slightly cook rice in a frypan over medium heat till light brown.
Remove to a 2 quart casserole.
Sauté additional veggies , onion and carrot in butter.
Turn into casserole with rice.
Brown pork neck bones in a bit of oil, set aside. Of course, season with salt and pepper.
Deglaze pan with wine scrape brown bits, and add to casserole.
Briefly sauté greens and add to casserole .
Add diced eggplant, previously peeled, sliced, salted and rinsed.
Mix all the additions with the rice in the casserole, it may be necessary to place ingredients in a bowl to mix them properly and return to casserole.
Nestle the pork necks in the rice, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Check to see rice is cooked , water is absorbed.

 Didn’t take any pictures of the finished dish.  Just as a note you could probably cook this stovetop a paella. 

Recent Pizza

Making pizza recently, probably not as often as before, but usually dictated by ingredients on hand and if I’ve been baking bread often.

Bread:

energy saving refrigerator light bulb

Bought this bulb to check it out and decided to put it in the fridge….

 

http://www.supplyhouse.com/Topaz-79941-LA17-4-827-E26-61-LA17-LED-A-Style-Bulb-120v-4-Watts

food shopping…….

a recent shopping excursion 

 

 

 

Another casserole

Lately it seems to be easy to prepare a casserole and bake it. The weather is cold, but not really cold on this date so the oven warms the kitchen and provides an savoury aroma.

Pasta 1 lb
Broccoli
One 14 once can peeled tomato
One can tomato soup
Chopped garlic
Italian seasonings
Dried basil
Dried red pepper flakes to taste.
(No onion!)
Shredded Parmesan (packaged)
Grated Parmesan

Boil the pasta in water till1/2 done.
Toss in broccoli to the pasta, and cook for several more minutes.
Drain pasta and broccoli , add the rest of the ingredients , less cheese.
Turn into and baking dish, top with cheese, heat in a 350 oven till cheese is melted and pasta is cooked.

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lamb babyback ribs

from the store

 

 

a 5 spice rub, cinnamon, star anise,  cloves, nutmeg, pepper (pink peppercorns) actually 6 if you count the ginger I added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used a roasting rack to suspend the ribs over a glass baking dish.

 

 

 

In a slow oven about 250 degrees, a cold day , the oven ran for  around 4 hours keeping the kitchen area warm.

 

Add some BBQ sauce and wrap in foil. The sauce I used was strained from a recent batch of baked beans.

Back into the oven reduced to 200 degrees.

Done !

Plated up with broccoli rice and pineapple.

lentils with tomato sauce

Lentils are a very flexible food to cook , this recipe I used a tomato based sauce. Like bulgar wheat, I enjoy lentils and should utilize them more as a meal or side dish. Can be used in place of pasta, rice, potato.
Smoked Tabasco peppers from the garden.

Smoking Tabasco peppers on the grill using wood pellets and charcoal.
Drafted this post in 2014 , just getting around to posting it.