Melt-In-Your-Mouth Buttermilk Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies!  Oh yes, I do love cookies.  I could make cookies for a living, I think!  Then again the Keebler Elves might come after me, so perhaps it's best to keep it at the hobby level lol.
Anyway, this is a recipe I love to do when I have leftover buttermilk.  The cookies are best on the day they are made and must be kept in an airtight jar after that in order to stay chewy at all.

Here is the blog with the recipe:
http://bakingbites.com/2010/07/melt-in-your-mouth-buttermilk-chocolate-cookies/

Since I actually follow the recipe exactly, these parts (ingredients & instructions) are simply copied from the original.  The pictures with the instructions are mine:

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
3. Melt the butter in a small, microwave safe bowl.
4. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter (still warm) with cocoa powder and whisk until very smooth. Whisk in sugar, vanilla extract and buttermilk.  Here are the two bowls (dry mixture and butter mixture):

5. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in the chocolate chips:

6. Drop dough in 1-inch balls into prepared baking sheet, leaving about two inches between cookies to allow for spread:

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are set around the edges.
8. Cool for 2-3 minutes on a baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack with a spatula to cool completely.
9. Enjoy!!

Pistachio Vanilla Butter Bundt Cake

I've been on a mission lately to use up stuff in my pantry (it tends to get overstocked somehow, especially with baking items...); combine this with desire to make a cake and use up some leftover buttermilk, I landed on this recipe on another person's (Melina) baking blog.
Here is the link to the blog/original recipe:
http://www.sugaryandbuttery.com/2014/04/pistachio-vanilla-butter-bundt-cake.html

As with nearly everything I try, I ended up with a few modifications--and one of them was not intentional (will explain that when I get to it in the preparation steps).

Ingredients:

Vanilla batter--
3 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp, baking soda
pinch of salt
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter (room temp)
3 large eggs (room temp)
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean:

1 c. buttermilk

Pistachio batter--
1 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 stick of unsalted butter (room temp)
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 1/4 c. finely ground pistachios

Drizzle frosting--
2 T. melted butter
2 c. powdered sugar
3 T. milk (more if thinner consistency desired)
splash of vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a Bundt pan with non-stick spray (I do this and then use paper towel to rub it around/coat evenly).
2. For the vanilla batter, start with whisking the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
3. In the mixer bowl, cream sugar, butter, and the vanilla bean seeds (beat until light and fluffy).
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add 1/3 of dry ingredients, mix, add 1/3 of buttermilk, mix--repeat process until all of both are added in and just combined (do not overmix):

6. For the pistachio batter, the process is the same as the vanilla frosting, only the pistachios go in where the vanilla bean is in that one.  You may also notice there is no egg listed in this one; the original recipe lists 1 egg in the ingredients for this part, but the instructions did not, so I ended up omitting it.  Since the cake still turned out great, it may not be entirely necessary.  I'll have to try making it with the egg next time and write a follow-up (this will be sometime far in the future, am guessing, as I have many, many things I want to make before I repeat!).  The batter for this turned out thicker, given it was missing the egg:

7. The original recipe called for the pistachio batter to be layered in-between the vanilla.  I opted to treat it like a marble cake, thus I put the vanilla batter in first and spooned the pistachio out over the top of it:

8. I then swirled the batter into the vanilla with an icing spatula:

9. Baked it for 1 hour, came out looking like this:

10.  Allow it to cool for about 15-20 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack to cool completely.
11.  Once it is cooled, prepare the drizzle icing.  This part is only in my version of the recipe/my modification; in the original, it appears she topped the cake only with a dusting of powdered sugar (no instruction to do so at the end of recipe, just see it in the pictures).  I like a nice drizzle frosting for a Bundt cake, personally, but I think a canned vanilla frosting could go well on this, too, if you prefer.

Drizzle icing instructions:
Melt butter in a medium sized bowl.  Whisk in a little powdered sugar and then a little milk, alternating between each until all have been added.  Whisk in splash of vanilla extract at the end.

12. Drizzle the icing all over the cake; it will drip down over the sides if you simply aim for the middle part of the cake top as you go around it.  Finished product should look something like this:

13. Cut a slice out and enjoy!

Panang Curry Beef with Basil

Mmm Thai food!  I don't make it nearly as often as I crave it, only for the sake of variety.  This was my first time making this recipe and it was wonderful! Original post date was Feb 2015.

Update in Feb 2024: Not sure how many times I made this after the original posting--rather certain I haven't made it is many years at any rate. This time, hubby declared this was incredible, top-notch fave for him! So, yes, I shall be making this more often going forward for sure :)

Link to my YouTube "making of the recipe" video: https://youtu.be/IuOOWbFzBQU

The original recipe was from Fine Cooking's website, which, sadly, no longer exists. I'm sure it's in one of their cookbooks that you can find at a library, though.

Recipe below contains my modifications.

Ingredients:

1 13.5 oz. can unsweetened coconut milk (do not stir; Aroy-D brand worked very well)
2 heaping T. panang or red curry paste (made with panang in the video)

2 T. extra crunchy peanut butter (used Skippy Super Crunch in the video)
5 tsp. fish sauce (Thai style)
1/4 c. water

4 tsp. dark brown sugar (packed)

1 small onion, very thinly sliced (I do half-rounds)
1/2 of a red bell pepper, sliced in thin strips

1 lb. flank steak, sliced in thin, short strips, across the grain
1 1/2 T. fresh lime juice

1 T. dried basil

Directions:

• 1. Heat wok over medium heat.  Spoon some of the thick coconut cream from the top of the can into the wok.  Add curry paste and cook, stirring until fragrant and beginning to dry (about 1-2 minutes):

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• 2.. Stir in the remaining coconut milk, peanut butter, fish sauce, and water; bring to a simmer:
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• 3. Stir in the brown sugar.
• 4. Add the red pepper and onion, stir to coat. Cover and let cook for 3 minutes.
• 5. Add the sliced beef, lime juice, and basil: 
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  6. Cook, uncovered, stirring to turn the beef often, until it loses raw appearance (about 3 minutes):
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  7. . Serve with rice (I like Basmati, but any variety will do) and enjoy!
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Chocolate Malts

Growing up, my brother and I used to have these fairly often.  This recipe is based on how my late father made them :)  Yet another recipe where exact measures cannot really be given; hopefully the visuals will help!

Ingredients:
Vanilla ice cream (amount depends on how thick you want it to be)
Malted chocolate milk powder (is typically found near chocolate syrup and other ice cream toppings)
Chocolate syrup
Milk

Directions:
1. Fill blender with desired amount of ice cream:

2. Add chocolate malted milk powder and chocolate syrup.  I used 4 heaping spoonfuls (large dinner soup spoon) of the powder and about 3 of chocolate syrup:

3. Pour in milk until it has covered the ice cream.  The ice cream may rise before you can get it all in, so try to get the milk around the same level it was when you first added the ice cream.  Be careful not to overfill, as you will need room for it to blend:

4. Put top on and use a middle speed (on low settings range if yours has both low and high options).  As mine was on the full side, I held the top on just to be careful while it was blending:

Blend until appearance is smooth texture and most of the syrup has blended in.
5. Pour into glasses and enjoy!

Kielbasa Pesto Pasta with Mushrooms

First off, I'll admit, this recipe is far from healthy--I honestly don't want to know how many calories are in it, because that would spoil the delicious factor for me a bit!  Instead, I shall just hit the gym extra hard the next few (hundred) times :)
Anyhow, every so often, I get a craving for Kielbasa, yet when I have searched for recipes, they are mainly for grilling it and adding sides or something along those lines.  I have a couple recipes (including another I came up with that I will make and blog about next time I have this craving!), but wanted to create something new this time.  Some time back, I came across some recipes for Kielbasa with pesto--had never had that and definitely wanted to try.  When I went back to the ones I'd bookmarked back then, none of them were quite what I seemed to be craving at the moment.  I got the idea to perhaps include some cream and make a pasta dish.  Yes, I found some recipes for that--with lots of butter and lots of cream and cheese and photos that made me think I'd have to live at the gym if I ate a serving of the suggested item.  What to do?!?!  Alas, I then decided to take some inspiration from a dish I've made many times (with pasta and a little bit of cream) and combine it with what I was craving to end up with this:

Only caveat is, like my Cheese Fondue recipe, not a lot of measuring occurred during the creation, thus the amounts here are based on my best guess of what I used.  Without further ado, here is the "recipe" (which made enough for 2 generous servings):

Ingredients
linguine pasta (I used approx. 2 servings' worth)
1/4 c. pasta water (reserved before/while draining)
1 T. butter (you may need more if using cookware that is not non-stick)
6 oz. fresh white/button mushrooms, sliced
1 Kielbasa sausage (I used one from Eckridge brand where they come in a 2-pack), sliced in rounds
1/2 tsp. bottled minced garlic
3 T. dry sherry
1/4 c. romano and asiago shredded cheese blend, plus more to garnish for serving
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 to 2 T. bottled pesto sauce
salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions
1. Cook linguine according to package directions.  Just prior to draining (or place bowl under colander while draining), reserve at least 1/4 c. of the water used to cook the pasta; set aside.

2. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and Kielbasa to pan:

Stir together and cook about 3 minutes.  Add garlic to pan, then cook until Kielbasa starts to brown a little (ok, a little hard to tell in this picture due to the steam!):

3. Add dry sherry to pan, stir, and cook until sherry has nearly (but not completely) evaporated.
4. Add linguine, reserved pasta water, cheese, heavy cream, and pesto to pan and stir to combine well.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cook approximately 2 minutes:

5. Serve topped with additional cheese blend and enjoy!

Cheese Fondue

Updated on 11 April 2021

Ahh, for the love of cheese!  I could eat cheese fondue far too often (and probably do lol).  This recipe is what I came up with based on recipes I've read, my experimentation and modification of it over time, and cheeses commonly available near me.  As such, I don't measure some of the ingredients. To get an idea of how much I use, check out my YouTube video here:

https://youtu.be/yXTxGKkYTLM

This cheese fondue is in the style of Swiss fondue, but I use this combination of cheeses:

The one on the top left is Gruyère (Swiss/French); below that is Jarlsberg (Norwegian), and on the right is Comté (French).  I used to use Emmental (instead of Jarlsberg), but stopped because it was harder to come by and more expensive.

Ingredients:

6 1/2 oz. Jarlsberg cheese

5 1/4 oz. Gruyère cheese

4 oz. Comté cheese

all-purpose flour (or cornstarch)

1 1/2 c. Chardonnay or other dry white wine
bottled minced garlic
Kirschwasser
lemon juice
pepper
nutmeg
bread (baguette or other hard-crusted), cut into pieces or cubes

any other dippers desired (apples, etc)

special equipment: fondue pot

Directions:

1. Shred all the cheeses together (I use and recommend using a food processor with shred blade) into same bowl. Sprinkle with a small amount of flour, work in by hand, then repeat a couple of times until cheese no longer sticks together as much (again, see the video for a better explanation). 

2. Add the Chardonnay to the fondue pot and minced garlic, to taste (I go a bit heavy). Turn the pot on to a low setting, just enough to get the mixture to rapidly simmer for a couple of minutes. (On my current fondue pot (Rival brand), I have to set it to 200°F. The one shown in these pix is our old one.)

3. Begin adding cheese a small handful at a time, mixing after each addition.  At first it will look like this:

After a few more handfuls, it should look more like this:

4. Add a small splash of the Kirschwasser and a squeeze of lemon juice (I typically use bottled lemon juice, but have used fresh as well).  Continue adding cheese handfuls until the mixture clings a bit to the utensil, but drips/melts off slowly (you may end up with a little unused shredded cheese or you may have to shred and add more).

5. Add pepper, to taste:

Followed by nutmeg, to taste:

6. Stir to combine and it should look something like this:

7. Serve with bread and enjoy!!

Alouettes Sans Têtes

First off, I must tell you that the title of this recipe is not literal, I am not cooking headless larks/birds! I found this recipe in a book I bought at Borders (miss that store!) years ago called "France: The Beautiful Cookbook". It can be found on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/France-Beautiful-Cookbook-Authentic-Recipes/dp/0002154129 and really lives up to its name.  It's the size of a coffee table style book, though, so I wouldn't call it a practical item for regular kitchen use. Still, it is completely worth the countertop space it hogs.
I hadn't made this in quite a while, as it is a bit time-consuming--consider yourself warned. According to the book, the name is because "the shape of these little meat rolls is reminiscent of tiny birds with the heads removed". A bit creepy, I admit; best to just not worry about the translation and enjoy the dish ;)  

Link to my YouTube "making of the recipe" video: https://youtu.be/qerdyzAYoXo

Here is the recipe with my modifications (only very slight ones).

Ingredients:

3 lb of rump steak (I actually used some that was a different cut, pre-sliced for braciole (similar Italian dish)
3/4 lb sliced prosciutto
2 slices of soft white bread, crusts removed
1 tsp bottled minced garlic
4 T. chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
6 pinches freshly grated nutmeg
coarse ground pepper
olive oil
1 T. butter
3 oz. baby carrots, chopped
5 oz onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3/4 c. red wine (I used a St. Emilion, but this is just because someone gifted me a bottle; I recommend a nice Côtes du Rhône or Merlot)
2 large cans tomato purée
4 oz. tomato sauce
salt
1/2 tsp. sugar

Directions:

1. If you do not buy the meat pre-sliced, you will need to slice it thinly enough so that it will easily roll up (about 1/4 in thick or slightly more).

2. Tear the bread up into small pieces and place pieces in food processor.  Grind the bread to crumbs.

3. In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, and nutmeg. Season with pepper as desired.

4. Form the rolls by laying a slice of meat flat, then add a layer of sliced prosciutto (depending on thickness, may need to double layer), and then spread a small portion of the bread crumb mixture on top of the prosciutto.  It should look something like this:

5. Roll up the meat, starting with the small end (if one is smaller than other).  Secure the roll by tying with kitchen twine, as pictured here (double knots are not necessary; I went to single ones after this):

6. Heat a few Tablespoons of olive oil in a 6 qt/deep pot, medium to medium high heat.  Sear the rolls on all sides in batches, looking something like this:

Place all the seared rolls aside:

7. Add the butter to the pot and let it melt. Stir in the carrots, onions, and celery; cover, lower heat to med-low and cook until veggies are very soft but not browned (about 10 minutes).

8. Return the beef rolls to the pot and pour the wine over; turn up heat to med-high and boil for 15 minutes:

9. Transfer contents of pot to slow cooker (or leave on stove, if preferred) and set to low heat. Add tomato purée and sauce over rolls, then add sugar. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

10. Cook for 3 hours (or longer). When ready to serve, if a thicker sauce is desired, remove the rolls and boil for around 10 minutes.
My sauce was plenty thick enough for my taste:

If I were serving this for guests, I would cut the twine off before dipping up to serve.  Since it was just for my family, we cut them off as we ate :)