Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Gluten Free and Dairy Free!!! And tastes good?! What the what?! Yes, you can't go wrong with these ingredients.


1c  Peanut Butter
1c Brown sugar
1 Egg
1tsp Baking soda
1tbs Vanilla extract
1/2c Dutch processed cocoa powder

cream peanut butter with sugar, egg, baking soda, and vanilla. Add cocoa powder. Form into balls and press with a fork.

Bake at 350º for 7-8 minutes.

Grilled Peach, prosciutto, arugula salad

Summer Salads are the BEST. While in New Zealand earlier this year, I had this salad at the Depot on Federal in Auckland. Now that it's summer time here I've been re-creating this grilled peach salad. Instead of firing up the grill, alternatively I've also been browning them in a cast iron skilled with some coconut oil.

1 ripe Peach sliced
1 cup baby Arugula
1/4 lb sliced Parma Prosciutto
1 tbs toasted macadamia nuts
1 tbs crumbled Blue Cheese
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 c coconut Oil (optional for cooking the peach)

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

Growing up, I HATED brussel sprouts. As an adult, I wasn't a fan either...until this. Seriously, Bacon makes everything better.

1lb Brussel Sprouts, cleaned and heads halved.
1/4 lb (about 5 strips) of thick bacon, cut in pieces
2 Tbs Soy Sauce
2 Tbs Brown Sugar

Fry Bacon drain grease and set aside. Reserve about 2 Tbs of the bacon grease to sauté the brussels sprouts, on a high heat, slightly browning the edges. Cover the pan and let them sweat. Once tenderized toss in soy sauce and brown sugar and reduce sauce in the pan. Add cooked bacon last before serving.

Sugar Cookies

In college, my best friend's mom would send her caramels and frosted sugar cookies in her care packages. I used this as the base for my Easter cookies this year. Gonna go eat some bunny's ass now...

Dough
3/4 c Powdered sugar
3/4 c Granulated sugar
1 c Butter
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Almond extract
1/2 tsp Cream of tartar
1 tsp Baking powder
2 1/2 c All purpose flour

Frosting
1 tsp Melted butter
1 tbs Milk
1/2 tsp Almond extract
1 c Powdered sugar
2-3 drops food coloring

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in wet ingredients and stir in the dry ingredients. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Roll out to about 1/4" thick and cut out cookie shapes.

Bake @ 375˚ for 10-15 minutes

Let cookies cool. Frost.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Ganache
500g milk chocolate
150g Heavy Cream
2 Cinnamon Sticks
40g butter, room temperature
20g tequila
1 Habenero, chopped

Chocolate Shell
Tempered Chocolate
Cocoa Powder
Cinnamon Powder


Combine cream, cinnamon stick, and chopped habenero. Heat until just a boil. Remove from heat and let cinnamon and pepper steep. Bring back to a boil and strain warm cream over chocolate and butter.

Create an emulsion, add tequila and mix well. Let ganache set. 

Using a scooper, make small balls with the ganache and coat with tempered chocolate. Let the batch set. Add a second coating of chocolate and dredge truffle thru cocoa powder and cinnamon powder.

Kabocha Gnocchi

I bought a kabocha at the farmer's market. I wanted to make chips out of it. Then I changed my mind after scrolling around Pinterest. Instead, I found an incredibly simple way to make them into gnocchi.   I also happened to have some leftover Bolognese sauce, which paired nicely for a hearty lunch.

1 Kachoba Squash

2 Eggs

1 c All Purpose Flour

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 Tsp Garlic Salt

Salt & Pepper to taste.

Cut Squash in half and drizzle olive oil on halves. Sprinkle with garlic salt and bake (face down) on a cookie sheet at 400 for about 45min-1hr. Let cool and scoop out the flesh into a large bowl. Add 2 eggs and mash using a potato masher. Season to taste with salt & pepper and work in flour to form a thick soft dough.

Working in portions, roll the dough out into long 'snakes'  and cut them into bite sized pieces. Press the tines of a fork into each one to give it that characteristic gnocchi shape. At this point, you can freeze it or refrigerate the gnocchi for future use. Or you can boil it or pan-fry it.

Irish Soda Bread

I am back working in an office. I love my co-workers and even more, I love that none of them are gluten free! So, what do I do? I take requests on what to bring in. This week, it's Irish Soda Bread. What's not to love about something that reminds me of a giant biscuit!

Dough

4 c All purpose flour

1/2 c Butter, softened

1 Egg

1 c Buttermilk

5 tbs Granulated sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking soda

1 tbs Baking powder

Wash

1/4 c Buttermilk

1/4 c Butter, melted

In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and then cut in the butter. Stir in 1 c buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. 

Form dough into a round and place on greased baking sheet (or baking stone). Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' on the top of the loaf.

In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 c buttermilk and brush loaf. Continue to brush with butter mixture while baking. 

Bake at 375º for 45-50 minutes. Check for doneness after 30 minutes.