Easy Raspberry Chocolates with White Chocolate Drizzle

So after a failed attempt to make raspberry sorbet filled chocolate, I decided to just throw in the sorbet (literally)! I'm not a dessert person, so this is my sad attempt to make something sweet and yummy! Let's hope I develop my skills over the summer.

Ingredients:
1/2 pint (8 oz) raspberry sorbet
2 packages (16 oz) semi-sweet baker's chocolate
2 oz white baker's chocolate

Directions:
Have a cookie sheet wrapped with wax paper prepared. And make some space in the freezer!
Have a melon baller handy :)
Fill a large sauce pan with about 2 inches of water and place on the stove on medium heat. Find a large glass (or heat resistant) bowl to place over the water (where you will melt the chocolate). Chop the chocolate into smalle squares and add into the glass bowl. Continuously stir as the chocolate will begin to melt quickly. If the chocolate heats too quickly, turn the heat down. Once the chocolate has all melted, add in the sorbet, a little bit at a time, to melt into the chocolate. Don't add it too quickly!
Once all the sorbet is added, continuously stir as you "ball out" each serving of chocolate. I just formed small little circles with a small melon baller size. Stick them in the freezer for at least 2 hours, or until the chocolate is no longer liquid.
You can melt the 2 oz of white chocolate in the microwave according to directions; it took about 1 1/2 minutes in my microwave. With the same spoon you stir with, drizzle the white chocolate liberally over the circles. I moved the circles closer together so it would be easier to drizzle. I ate a couple on the way, and they are a soft consistency! Yummy, and not what I expected!

Fresh Herb and Campanelle Ribbon Bake

Because food makes you feel better and cooking is the best therapy, a friend and I decided to mix the two together and have a cooking-fest. We wanted to make something italian, amazing, and fresh, and we came up with this awesome recipe!

Ingredients:
Lots of olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef
1 bottle of Classico Fire Roasted Tomato and Garlic pasta sauce
1 package of campanelle pasta (serves 8)
1 8 oz package shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded parmesan romano blend
1 8 oz package ricotta
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (not packed)
1 tbsp fresh oregano and parsley
Salt

Directions:
In a small bowl or mortar and pestel, crush garlic, oregano, parsley, and about 2 leaves of basil with 1/4 tsp of salt until it makes a thick paste. Set aside.
While cooking the pasta, pan fry the ground beef with 1/2 of the above mixture. Add about 1/2 tsp of salt in to the meat while cooking it.
Roll and slice the basil. You can chop it finer if you would rather have it that way. Add it in to a bowl with the ricotta cheese, about 1/4 cup of olive oil, the other 1/2 of herb mixture, and about 1 tbsp of the parmesan romano mixture. Set aside.
Once the pasta is finished, rinse it in cold water to stop cooking. Then mix the pasta, cooked beef, and half of the jar of pasta sauce in a large bowl.
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large glass baking pan, spread 1/2 of the remaining pasta sauce in the bottom of the pan with about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add in half of the pasta mixture and spread evenly throughout the pan. Then spread the ricotta cheese mixture and on top, sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese bag.  Then add the other half of the pasta mixture.  Top with the rest of the mozzarella and 1/4 cup of  parmesan romano mixture.
Cook for up to 30 minutes.

Pecan-Ginger Crusted Tilapia with a Honey-Balsamic Glaze

So I was feeling a little crazy today and decided to make something up. I had some tilapia in my freezer and some pecans in my pantry and decided to add a little spin on a classic dish. And it turned out fantastic! So here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 Tilapia filets
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 inch chunk of ginger
Salt to taste
2 cloves of garlic - minced
Flour
Powdered ginger
1/4 cup of milk
Olive oil
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp of honey

Directions:
Puree/finely chop the ginger (I used a magic bullet) and combine with panko, pecans, and salt.  Set aside. In a separate bowl/plate, combine flour and powdered ginger. You only need enough to lightly coat each filet. Set aside.  Then pour your milk into another separate plate. Set aside.
While heating olive oil in a large sauté pan, you will dredge the filets in the following order: flour, milk, and pecan mixture. You lightly coat the fish, on both sides, in the flour and then put it in the milk and turn the filet so milk covers both sides as well. After you make the flour-milk paste, dip the fish in the pecan mixture, coating until you can't see any more white.  Then pan-fry the fish in the olive oil.
Allow the fish to completely brown on each side. As you can see in the picture, my fish was a dark-golden brown on both sides and was cooked perfectly. Set the finished fish on a plate and set in the oven while you make your glaze.
Do not remove any "crunchies" or oil from the pan before adding the vinegar. Remove your pan from the heat and let it cool for a minute or so before adding the balsamic vinegar. If you want a lighter garlic flavor, brown the garlic first. I didn't - I added the balsamic and garlic at the same time.  As soon as the balsamic is added into the pan, put it back on the heat and stir constantly.  Add in your honey and continue to stir. Add in a little salt and continue stirring.  The balsamic vinegar should be bubbling and steaming while it reduces - the more it reduces, the thicker it will be so you can decide when to stop reducing it.
Plate your fish and drizzle a little of the glaze on top and enjoy!! :)

Herb Roasted Chicken, Stuffed Mushrooms, and Asparagus Fettuccine

Wow! It's been awhile since I've made something and posted it on here. But let me tell you what, my friend Alicia and I decided to make a homemade dinner for Memorial Day and we came up with some yummy stuff!!

Herb-Roasted Chicken Thighs
Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs, deboned and chopped into bite-size pieces (or equivalent of any cut of chicken)
• Olive oil
• Fresh herbs (the more the merrier!)
• We used basil, lemon balm, thyme, parsley, and rosemary
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper
• Panko breadcrumbs

Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Toss the chicken in about 3 tablespoons olive oil (if you cook with a less-fatty cut of chicken, you probably want to add more oil) and then lay it in a small, glass baking pan. Then sprinkle all the herbs over top of the chicken and toss again.  Then sprinkle the garlic over the chicken.
To make a breadcrumb topping, mix Panko and olive oil until lightly moist. Then, sprinkle the Panko topping over the chicken.
Place chicken in the middle of the oven and cook for about 40 minutes. The topping should be dark-golden brown.

Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients

• 2 packs of mushrooms, stems removed
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• Basil and parsley
• Salt and pepper
• Italian bread crumbs
• Asiago, Parmesan, and Romano cheese
• Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Finely chop the mushroom stems, putting the caps in a baking pan.
In small bowl, mix chopped stems, garlic, herbs, salt, pepper, and about 1 tablespoon of italian breadcrumbs. Once even mixed, cook in olive oil over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is warmed. Then put the mixture back in a bowl and mix in about 2 more tablespoons of breadcrumbs and about a tablespoon of the mixed cheese until incorporated into the mixture. Then fill the mushroom caps and top with more cheese. Pop in the oven, on a lower level, for about 15 minutes. Or until the mushrooms are cooked thoroughly.

Kickin' Asparagus Fettuccine

Ingredients

• Fettuccine, half of a box
• 1 bunch of asparagus, julienned
• Soy bean oil
• Olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Cajun salt
• Pepper
• Habanero sauce

Start to brown the garlic in 1 tablespoon of soy bean oil and once it begins to brown, add asparagus and toss. Cook asparagus for about 2-3 minutes before starting to cook the pasta. Toss in cajun salt and pepper in the asparagus.  You can continue cooking until the pasta is finished, or take off the heat once the asparagus reaches the desired consistency.
When the pasta is finished, drain it and toss it in the pan with the asparagus.  Add salt, olive oil, and habanero sauce to taste, continually tossing until it is incorporated into the pasta.

Pretty proud of this meal! It wasn't inspired by any recipe - it was totally off the top of our heads!! Yummy!!!

:)

Pork and Carrot Stir-Fry

I haven't cooked anything good (or bad) in awhile - I've been surviving on basic cooking and Moe's.  So today at work I decided I was going to come home and cook something with pork. I didn't have any soy sauce, cabbage, sprouts, or any vegetable other than carrots.. so this is what I came up with. And it turned out pretty dang good!
I served it with a premade three cheese tortellini, but it could be served with any side.

Ingredients:

• Thinly cut pork chops, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Carrots, sliced diagonally (or cut in circles)
• Salt, pepper
• Fresh thyme
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Olive Oil
• Chicken broth
• Honey

Cook the garlic in about 3 tbsp of olive oil on medium-high heat and as soon as the garlic begins to color, throw in the pork and toss. Add in salt to taste, grind in some fresh pepper, and toss with fresh thyme.  Cook until pork is no longer pink. Place pork on a plate and drizzle with about 1 tbsp of honey (you don't have to use honey, I just found that it tied the pork and the carrots together). Place in a warm oven.

In the same pan, with the same oil, throw in your sliced carrots, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook on a medium-high heat. I browned the carrots for about a minute and then added in about 1/4 cup of chicken broth and brought down the heat to about a medium. Let the carrots cook, tossing them gently every few minutes. When the chicken broth is reduced, add in the pork and toss the mixture.

Yummy :)

Asparagus, Shrimp, and Campanelle with Basil Pesto

I found this recipe on an amazing food blog, Gimme Some Oven, and I edited it due to my Kroger's lack of gnocchis.

By the way, this recipe only takes like 15 minutes! It's so simple, you might just die. Seriously :)

Oh, and PS, campanelle is a kind of noodle-yeah, I know-and it is fantastic.  Any larger and rounder noodle will do if you don't have gnocchis, but I'm sure it's about 100% better WITH gnocchis. But then again, I love gnocchis but am too lazy and poor to make them. Anyways.

Ingredients

• Campanelle (or gnocchis, as the recipe calls for)
• Raw shrimp (I used larger prawns and cut them up, but any size will do)
• Basil pesto
• Asparagus
• Salt and pepper
• Paprika
• Olive oil

While cooking your noodles, heat olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium-high heat and add your asparagus, cooking them for a couple of minutes (about 3-5, depending on how you soft you like your veggies) and then add in the shrimp
Once shrimp are added, sprinkle in a happy amount of salt, grind in some fresh pepper, and add in some paprika and stir them in
Allow the shrimp to turn pink, and occasionally stir in the process (or do some awesome pan flipping like me :])
Put the cooked noodles and asparagus/shrimp mixture into a separate bowl and toss
Then add the pesto, however much you'd like, and then toss it in
You can add some fresh parmesan on top, maybe a little fresh pepper :) have some fun!

Suggestions:
According to my friend, I could have added in lemon. And I totally agree. Lemon or lime would have been fantastic.  And definitely more heat.  So cajun salt, or some chipotle Tabasco sauce would definitely be a good choice next time I made this recipe.

Easy Garlic Twice Baked Potatoes with Fresh Basil and Parsley

My first (published) success!

For the record, I am lazy and working on two papers, and I didn't want to go to the store. So I had to make dinner with what I had - and that is next to nothing. My mom recently came down to where I go to school to visit and bring me my birthday gifts :) and they so happened to be several fresh herbs for my patio. Luckily, I aso had some baking potatoes laying around and I could try this.

I have to admit that I also don't have any good cream laying around, so this recipe is made with milk. The twice baked potato part can be done by whatever recipe, it's the little extra touches that made a difference.

My mom taught me a way to cheat and make twice bake potatoes that saves time and heat, so you can follow this (because it's easy) or cook the potatoes how you normally do.
I suggest the garlic powder, because it's just enough kick to add the subtle flavor that you will be looking for.

Twice Baked Potato Ingredients:

• Medium-sized baking potato (duhh)
• Skim milk (or whatever you whip your potatoes with, this is all I had)
• Garlic (I used powder, but for a stronger kick you could use fresh or roasted garlic)
• Salt (could have used pepper, as well) to taste
• Cheddar cheese
• Fresh basil and flat-leaf parsley (only a couple of leaves per potato)

Poke the potato with fork several times and then microwave it for 6 minutes or until it is slightly softened
Cut off the top of the potato (like a potato skin) and let it cool
Scooped out the meat and place into a medium-sized bowl
Add milk at about 2 tbsp at a time and whip on low-medium speed until the potato is at desired consistency (I like mine really whipped :])
Either whip or mix in garlic, salt, and pepper
Tear (DON'T CUT) the leaves of the herbs in small pieces and mix into the whipped potato

Place a small pinch of cheese into the bottom of the skin shell (you can take the top of the potato that you cut off and make a potato skin if you'd like, I placed it on top of the pinch of cheese and then placed another pinch of cheese on top of that :])
Layer the whipped potato and the cheese, ending with a "happy" pinch of cheese on top

I cooked my potato in the toaster oven for about 15 minutes on 375° on top of foil

Garnish with fresh parsley

Voila! A beautiful and colorful potato that has a bite of garlic and a hint of fresh herbs :)

This potato was enough for dinner, so if you wanted to use something like this for a side dish, I also suggest smaller potatoes.

Enjoy!

-Katherine