Egg Free Blood Orange Truffle Brownies

Ok so I have tried many many many brownies and despite these having no eggs they were officially one of the best brownies I have ever had. Of course I added some good stuff to them just because that is what I do.
They make this amazing crust on the outside and are very fudgie on the inside. I always suggest removing them 5 minutes before they are set because this will allow the brownie to be more moist and not as cakey. I hate cakey brownies:)

Ingredients
1/3 cup A.P Flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter (unsalted is preferred but you can use salted just add less salt to the recipe)
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder ( you want to use a good cocoa powder, it makes a huge difference in the overall chocolate flavor of the brownie.
2 cups white sugar
2 cups A.P flour ( if you are trying to add whole wheat to your diet and can find whole wheat pastry flour, it will work wonderfully in this recipe.)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp blood orange zest
half a blood orange juiced
12 chocolate truffles  roughly chopped( the simple french ones that you find covered in cocoa powder in a box, chill them before you chop them or they will end up a gooey not so fun mess)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x 13 inch pan. In a heavy saucepan combine the 1/3 cup flour and water. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thick. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside to cool.

In small saucepan melt butter, you can also do this in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave for 20 second intervals till it is melted.  Once butter is melted add cocoa powder and mix till smooth. Set aside to cool.
Beat the sugar into the cooled flour mixture. Stir in the cocoa and butter mixture until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt then stir into the batter. Stir in the orange zest and juice and chopped truffles. Spread evenly using a offset spatula in the pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remember to take out just before they are set. They will continue to cook after you take them out. Cool before cutting... I never wait till they are cool. I am a warm brownie lover!:)

ENJOY!

Pavlova

This is a meringue that is an amazing dessert. Tyler's Mom gave me the recipe and we all loved it. It didnt last very long. You make this the night before and let it sit in your oven. Its an amazing alternative to sponge cake for strawberry shortcake. Oh and homemade whip cream is a must with this.... no stuff out of a can or that fake stuff called cool whip!!!!!!

4 egg whites
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp vinegar

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Continue beating while adding sugar slowly, 1tbsp at a time. Add vinegar and vanilla and beat until very stiff.
Place parchment on a cookie sheet and spread the mixture in a circle slightly smaller than desired size. Instead of making one big one you can also make smaller ones. Bake 1 hour at 275 degrees . Turn off oevn and leave meringue to dry overnight.

When ready to serve peel off paper and place on a serving platter. Top with Strawberries and fresh whip cream. To cut slices make sure you have a warm glass of water and a good knife to cut it with. Dip the knife in the warm water and cut. Its amazing!!!!!

Pumpkin French Toast

This is an amazing recipe for french toast. It makes me think of fall and leaves changing and those cool crisp mornings... Can you tell I am more than ready for fall to be here:) This is a good weekend breakfast becuase you can make it the night before and then its ready for you the following morning. Its also a good recipe for a nice brunch. I made it this weekend and it was a huge hit. I hope you enjoy it.

1 loaf of unsliced good fresh white bread or a brioche-style bread
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch coarse salt
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup half and half
4 large eggs
2 tbsp orange liqueue or orange juice will work just fine
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 grated orange zest


Trim ends of bread and cut crosswise into 12 (1 inch ) thick slices. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a meduim bowl. Whisk in pumpkin, half and half, liqueur, ginger, vanilla, orange zest. Pour mixture into a large pan (8x13) . Add bread slices to pan and then turn over slices. You want to make sure that both sides are covered with the mixture. Cover pan with wrap and then refrigerate overnight.
The next morning preheat oven to 200 degrees. Heat a large griddle or skillet over meduim heat. Add oil or butter and melt , then add your slices of french toast. Once they are golden brown place in oven on a heat safe plate. Continue till all bread is done. Serve with butter and warm maple syrup.

Coconut Shrimp and lime Jasmine Rice

I think this recipe is simple and delicious. I added frozen green peas to the rice before I served it and I thought it was good. The jalapenos can be omitted if you dont want it too spicy.


Shrimp:

2 fresh jalapenos sliced
3 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
1/2 piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp of soy sauce
1/2 lime. zested
1/4 cup coconut milk
small handful basil leaves torn
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper
1 pound peeled deveined shrimp


In a mixing bowl combine jalapenos, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, lime zest, coconut milk, basil, vegetable oil, salt, and pepper. Add the shrimp and marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours refrdgerated.

Heat a nonstick skillet over high heat. Use tongs or a fork to remove the shrimp from the marinade and place an even layer in the pan, reserve the marinade.

Cook the shrim until pink and firm on both sides turning only once, about 3-4 minutes total. Transfer cooked shrimp to a bowl

Add the reserved marinade to the pan and bring to a boil, cook until slightly thickened about 5 min.

Pour over the shrimp, and serve with the rice



Lime Jasmine Rice

1 Cup Jasmine Rice
3/4 Cup coconut milk
3/4 Cup water
pinch salt
1/2 lime zested and juiced

Put the rice coconut milk lime juice water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover and gently simmer until the liquid is absorbed about 12-15 min. Fluff with fork and stir in the lime zest. Serve immediately with the shrimp.

A Classic Waffle recipe

This is a basic waffle recipe, once again I use whole wheat pastry flour and I think they turn out great. I love adding the mini chocolate chips to these. MMMMMM

2 Cups Whole wheat or all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 Cups warm milk
1/3 Cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 pkg of mini chocolate chips if you choose

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. set aside. Preheat waffle iron to desired temperature.
In a seperate bowl beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, butter, and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture beat until blended.
Ladle the batter into a preheated waffle iron. Cook the waffles till golden and crisp. Serve immediately. If you have leftovers they will keep in a zip baggie for a few days. Just make sure they are cool before you put them in the bag.

Amazing Whole Wheat Pancakes

Some of you have had these at my house and some of you I have given this recipe too. They are amazing, they are by far better then any regular pancake out there. You can use any flavor yogurt and throw in any fresh or thawed frozen fruit. If you want them plain I like to use a vanilla flavored yogurt!!! This past weekend I added peach yogurt, frozen peaches and a bit of cinnamon and they were fantastic. I like to double the recipe and put the leftovers in the fridge for the kids to have during the week.


Ingredients
1 Cup of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 Cup of Milk
1 egg
1 container of yogurt( your choice in flavor)
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 Cup of fresh or thawed frozen fruit of your choice

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the yogurt, milk, and egg. In a seperate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk till combined. Then stir in the fruit. Use a griddle or a non stick pan. I use a laddle or something that you get a consistent pour everytime. This way you have them all the same size. They dont take very long to brown so make sure and watch them carefully. These do not bubble like regular pancakes. I love them warm with butter and REAL MAPLE SYRUP!!!! NO IMMITATION PLEASE!!!!!

Hot Broccoli Dip

This is an easy and simple dip that tastes great with crackers or bread. I like to take a loaf of french bread and slice it really thin and then toast it. These are called crostini and are amazing for dips and cheese. I think you will find that they work really well with this dip.

Ingredients

1 Cup of Broccoli florets chopped fine
2 tbsp chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 8 oz pkg of cream cheese softened
1/2 Cup of Mayonnaise
1/2 Cup of Sour Cream
1/2 Cup grated Parmesean cheese
2 garlic cloves chopped or pressed
salt and pepper


Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium size bowl combine broccoli, onion, and pepper. Add cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, 2 tbsp of the Parmesean cheese, garlic and black pepper. Mix well and put in a small baking dish.

Bake about 20-25 min. or until its hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining parmesean cheese.

Chinese 5 Spice Wings with a Cilantro Dipping Sauce

I love spicy wings and these are spicy!!!! They are a different take on the classic wing. They have a dry rub on them and then they are baked. The sauce is amazing and it compliments the wings very well!!!! You can let these sit overnight if you like, just place them in a zip baggie and then take them out and cook when you like.

Ingredients
40 Chicken wings pieces or 20 whole chicken wings
4 tbsp of Chinese spice powder
6 tsp Cayenne pepper ( now if you like spicy I usually add 2tbsp )
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. If you have the whole chicken wings cut off the wingtips and cut the wings in half at the joint. Discard wingtips. If you have the wing pieces you need not do anything.
Place the wings in a large bowl, sprinkle the 5 spice powder and cayenne on the wings, and a few pinches of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Rub the mixture into all wings until no more loose rub remains. MAKE SURE AND WASH YOUR HANDS!!!
Line the wing pieces up on a baking sheet so the side of the wing that has the most skin is facing up. Cook about 25 mintues or until cooked through and brown and crispy.


Creamy Cilantro Dipping sauce

Ingredients
1/3 Cup Chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 Cup sour cream
1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Yogurt
1/2 lemon Juiced
Salt and pepper

Combine ingredients in mixing bowl. Whisk ingredients together to mix them fully and season with salt and pepper.

Awesome Crab Ragoon

I have to say that I do love the ones you get at the Chinese restaurant but you know they are made with immitation crab meat and who knows what else. So I came up with this recipe and I think that after you try these you will never want the ones from the restaurant again. I have baked them and have deep fried them, and of course if you want authentic crab ragoon you should deep fry them but honestly if you dont want to deal with the hassle of deep frying you can bake them. They are awesome either way it just depends on what you feel like doing. If you are using a pan that isn't nonstick I would make sure that it has oil on it. Other than that you dont have to put anything on them if you are baking them.

Ingredients

1 8oz pkg cream cheese softened
1 can of real crab meat
2 green onions diced small
2 tbsp of real ginger diced small
3 garlic cloves diced small
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup cilantro leaves chopped fine
1 pkg of wonton wrappers ( I use the square ones but feel free to use the round ones if you like.


Directions
Combine Cream cheese, crab meat, green onions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, cilantro leaves. Cover and place in the fridge for an hour. You want all the ingredients to sit and let the flavors meld together. Take the wonton wrappers and brush the edges with water. Place a tbsp of the mixture in the center and fold how you like. There are many ways to fold the wonton wrapper , you just want to make sure that if you are deep frying them the edges are sealed and if you are baking them its not as neccessary. If you decide to bake them you want to preheat your oven to 375 degrees. If you are deep frying them you want the oil to be around the 375 degree mark as well. Place them on the cookie sheet and bake them for about 12-15 minutes or until they are a golden brown. If you are deep frying them, you want to drop them in the oil and flip once and once they are golden brown they are done, dont put to many of them in there or the oil temperature will drop and you willl have oily wontons. Depending on the size of what you are deep frying them in will depend on how many you place in the oil. When they are done take them out and let them drain on a paper towel. BE CAREFUL as the insides will be MOLTEN!!!! If you are baking them take them out of the oven and let cool slightly before eating as they will be molten as well. I found an amazing sweet chili sauce at an asian market that I used as a dipping sauce. Any sweet and sour sauce will do . This recipe will do about 3 dozen, it can easily be doubled if you like.

Asian Grilled Shrimp

Here is the shrimp recipe that I used with the noodle salad. I grilled them and then put them on top of the noodles. If you want you can use chicken instead of the shrimp, just make sure the chicken is chopped big enough so that you can skewer the pieces. It will cook faster and the marinade will absorb better with the smaller pieces. Its always better to let these sit overnight in the marinade, a much richer flavor!!!!


1 lb shrimp without tails or chicken cubed
1 tsp of sesame oil
1 tbsp of rice wine
1tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of honey
1 tbsp of sesame seeds
2 tsp of five spice powder ( this is an absolute must have in your spice cabinet)
3 garlic cloves, whole, smashed
4 slices of fresh ginger ( this is something that all markets should have but you will for sure find it at the asian market along with the noodles and the 5 spice powder)

Combine all ingredients in a sealable bag and mix well. Leave to marinate at least an hour.

Remove the shrimp and place on skewers and then on to a preheated grill. They will take about 2 min per side. You want them pink and tender. If you dont want to grill them you can cook them in a saute pan.

Place them on the noodle salad and enjoy!!!

Asian Noodle Salad

I made this the other day and it was fantastic. I will post the recipe for the shrimp that I put on top of the noodles. If you prefer you can use chicken instead of the shrimp. This makes a lot and honeslty its just as good the second day. The noodles you should be able to find in a larger grocery store, but if you can't find them you might have to go to an Asian market.

1 Pkg of rice vermicelli, soaked until soft in hot water and then drained
Zest and juice of 2 limes
1/4 Cup of Peanut butter
1/4 Cup of orange marmalade
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1/4 tsp of of hot sauce of your choice
2 tbsp of olive oil
3 green onions sliced
1 Cup of cilantro leaves roughly chopped
1 carrot peeled and shredded
1 cup of peanuts

Dressing:
Whisk together the lime zest, and juice, peanut butter, marmalade, soy sauce, hot sauce, and olive oil till smooth. Set aside

Place the noodles, green onions, cilantro and carrot into a salad bowl and then add the dressing. Toss well, and then add the peanuts on top.

The Best Oatmeal Cookies ever!!!!

I made these last night and they have to be my absolute favorite oatmeal cookie recipe!! I add a bit of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla and it makes a huge difference. You can add chocolate chips , walnuts or raisins, but honeslty they are so good plain. You can use white all purpose flour but I always use a whole wheat pasty flour and they turn out I think better then with white flour, maybe because they are better for you that way:) . These are good warm with some nice vanilla ice cream......... enjoy:)

1 Cup butter softened ( no margarine!!!!!)
1 Cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp vanilla
3 Cups quick oats
1 Cup all purpose flour or whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Cups raisins, choc chips, nuts, or dried fruit

Preheat oven to 375 F
Cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, water in a large bowl on medium speed of an electric mixer until light and creamy, this takes about 2 minutes.

Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture on low speed mixing until blended.
Stir in raisins, chocolate chips, dried fruit, or nuts if you choose.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 375 for 8 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. If you like a softer cookie watch them closely and when they start to brown on the edges pull them out. I like a crunchy cookie and so I just let them get lightly brown all over. Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet and then remove to a wire rack or parchment paper. This makes about 4 dozen cookies depending on the size .