Drunken Yum

I’m always interested to learn how other people cook– their styles, techniques and favorite tricks…and not just by watching some famous Food Network chef.  It’s the lady you’re standing next to at the fish counter who tells you about steaming seafood in a can of cheap beer.  And that’s exactly what happened!  In line at the Publix seafood counter, this woman was ordering shrimp and mussels.  We started chatting and I asked her how she was going to cook them.

She said, “Put them in a steamer basket and grab the cheapest, nastiest beer you can find.  Steam for about 5 minutes till the mussles open.  Throw some Old Bay Seasoning on them and Bon Appetit!”

And that, lovelies, is what’s on Parker’s Plate!  It was so easy and so good!  I tossed it all on some dirty rice with sautéed onion, garlic and jalapeños.

Kissed with White Chocolate!

Christmas may be over, but my cravings for Christmas cookies are not….

2 of my favorite things are white chocolate and gingerbread, so why not combine them?!  This is a great recipe to make with kids– they’ll love pressing the Hershey’s kisses onto the cookies!  It’s also the perfect recipe for a date…Only rule is to eat as you kiss.  Or kiss while you eat.  Melty delish is always romantic.

Drizzle with your favorite melting chocolate and toppings

When my favorite camera dude’s birthday was coming up, I asked him what he wanted me to make him….Nutella stuffed cupcakes?  Guiltless lemon cheesecake?  OMG Bars?

Nope. He just wanted chocolate covered pretzels…cuz as he put it, “there’s nothing like the combo of sweet and salty.”  Indeed.

You really only need 2 ingredients– pretzels and melting chocolate, but feel free to decorate them with your favorite toppings– sprinkles, nuts, toffee, whatevah your little heart desires.  You can get bags of melting chocolate wafers at Michael’s Craft store, or if you’re local in Atlanta, at Cake Art in Tucker.

You can use pretzel rods for a cool effect— just dip the ends in chocolate and roll them in sprinkles.

These make great holiday gifts for friends and co-workers….Just put them in a cello bag with some festive ribbon!

Savory, sweet with a kick

JP’s fave weekend meal is pancakes.  Last weekend, I was out of Bisquick and buttermilk, so I decided to look no further than my box of Jiffy.

99 cents delish

All you do is add some milk, an egg, some jalapeños and bacon for pancakes that Aunt Jemima would covet.

Ingredients

1 box of Jiffy

2 Tb butter melted plus 1 Tb

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

3 pieces of bacon

2 jalapeños

1/2 cup white cheddar

Directions:  Saute jalapeños and bacon till crispy in 1 Tb of butter.

Bacon and Jalapeño

Combine Jiffy mix with egg, 2 Tb melted butter and 3/4 cup milk.  Pour about 1/4 cup portions into a pan to make pancakes.

Cook in a little bit of butter

When cakes are in pan, sprinkle with the crispy bacon, jalapeño and a pinch of white cheddar.  Flip over when they start to bubble.

Ready to E.A.T.

Garnish with a bit more bacon and jalapeño.  Dive into DELISH.

Nutella Stuffed Decadence

Let’s not bury the lead. These cupcakes are the bomb.com as the Williams family can attest after eating them…click the MOV link to see and hear 5 seconds of sheer adorable!  MOV_1057.MOV

Sprinkled with black sanding sugar and a wedge of dark chocolate

I spied these on the Facebook page of my friend Loretta, (who might have one of the most gorgeous babies of all time) and still finds the time to bake.  Kudos, girl, cuz these little munchkins are keepers.

Cupcake Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (or any unsweetened cocoa powder)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup coffee, lukewarm (you can use decaf coffee if desired!)

Nutella frosting

coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

1 (13-ounce) jar Nutella, to fill the cupcakes (you may or may not use the whole jar)

Nutella Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup Nutella

2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar

pinch of kosher salt

2-3 Tbsp. milk (or heavy cream)

To Make The Cupcakes:

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt until combined. Then in an additional separate bowl, stir together buttermilk and coffee. Add dry ingredients to creamed butter mixture alternately with buttermilk and coffee, beating well after each addition.

Line baking pans with about 24 paper baking cups, and fill each two-thirds full with batter. (Here is my tutorial for filling cupcake liners.) Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Once the cupcakes have reached room temperature, use a melon baller (or a small spoon) to scoop out a small portion from the middle of the cupcake (about 1 teaspoon). Fill the empty space with a teaspoon or so of Nutella. Then top the cupcakes with the Nutella frosting (recipe instructions below.)

To Make The Nutella Frosting:

Using an electric mixer, cream butter and Nutella together on medium-speed until smooth. Add in vanilla and beat until smooth. Reduce speed to low and gradually add powdered sugar until incorporated. Add milk until you reach the desired consistency, then increase speed to medium-high and beat for 1 more minute. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes.

Nutella stuffed delish

Bite size morsels of delish…

I normally stick to a low-carb, sugar-free, gluten-free diet.  It’s just what works for me– and keeps my butt fitting into my skinny jeans.  On any given day, I’d say I much prefer a big ‘ol steak and a piece of cheese to some sort of sugary confection.  Except when it comes to chocolate chip cookies.  They are one of my favorite things in the world… I will risk allergic reactions, bloated carb regret, and sugar withdrawal to indulge every now and again in melty, chocolatey deliciousness.  I love experimenting with different recipes.  Mark Bittman’s chocolate chip cookies from How to Cook Everything are my all-time favorite. For me, chocolate chip cookie perfection is when there is a slight crunch that gives way to a soft doughy inside that is warm and oozing semi-sweet chocolate chips.

I decided to try making chocolate chip cookies using sweetened condensed milk.  This recipe requires no eggs and no added sugar, so making them is a breeze.  The don’t get very browned in the oven, but I loved how they turned out!  Super cute and bite size!  The texture is a little more biscuit-y than cookie-y which JP wasn’t a fan of.  I, on the other hand, promptly went into a self-induced carb/sugar coma that was epic.

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened (2 sticks)

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:  Cream butter and condensed milk.  Add everything else and mix until combined.  Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a greased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.