Calling All Choc-O-Holics!

With everything that has been going on lately, I completely forgot to post up this fabulous brownie recipe. I came across it a few months ago, and it quickly became one of our favorites. This is a great recipe to make when you are craving something rich and chocolatey. These are by far the BEST brownies I have ever had. Warning: they may ruin brownies for you forever!


Nutella Brownies


Ingredients

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

4 eggs
1 cup flour
3/4  cup cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1cup Nutella
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  In a medium bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.  Then set the bowl aside.

2. On low heat, melt the butter sticks in a small pot.  Then add the vanilla and sugar while stirring the mixture until well combined. Remove the pot from the heat and allow to cool.  I poured the butter/sugar mixture into a medium bowl to cool.

3. Once the butter/sugar mixture is completely cooled add the eggs one at a time, making sure to mix each time.

4. Add the cocoa/flour mixture to the egg mixture gradually, until completely mixed together.

Heat a Nutella container in the microwave for a bout 40 seconds.  You want the nutella to have a runny consistency which will allow the nutella to pour easily.  Add the nutella to the batter and mix well.  Lastly add the chocolate chips and fold into the batter.

5. Pour your batter into a buttered rectangular pan… I use parchment paper instead of butter. This makes it easier to take your brownies out after they bake and cool.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool completely.  

These brownies are really fudgy, so I usually put them in the fridge for 2-4 hours before serving. It helps them set so they don't fall apart when you eat them.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!

MMMMMMM. That's all I can say about this recipe, people. This one is a KEEPER! super easy to make, and the cookie really comes out looking and tasting like a "professional". I suggest you try...


I halved the recipe to make 2 dozen, but the original recipe can be found here on allrecipes.com 


Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs & vanilla until fluffy
3. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda & salt. Stir into butter mix.
4. At this point, I added about 2 tbsp of milk because my dough was really dry
5. Mix in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoon full on ungreased cookie sheet
6. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until just set. Do not overbake. Cool on cookie sheet slightly before transferring.

Yields 2 dozen

I should have made the full recipe - these only lasted 2 days!! Enjoy

mmmmm mmmmmmm good.....

Not actual size. Pictured larger to show texture ;)

Hello all, just a quick post inspired by my dinner for tomorrow night. Always on a budget, I scooped up some leeks on sale & a bag of new potatoes. My mind went back to an old favorite at the Neilson house, Leek & Potato soup. I modified the original recipe from Cooking Light, and the results are the best I have ever tasted! (sorry mom) 
So here we go:





Golden Potato-Leek Soup


Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
3 cups thinly sliced leek (about 3 medium)
6 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 2 1/4 pounds); I substituted New Potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (like you put on pizza)
Ground black pepper & Spike to taste
2 Cups chicken broth
3/4 cup water
2-3 pieces bacon, cooked & roughly chopped
1 small onion, finely sliced and caramelized
2 thyme sprigs
1/3 cup whipping cream


Melt butter over medium heat in a dutch oven or pot. Add leeks, cook 10 mins until soft. Stir in caramelized onions


Add potatoes, salt, broth, red pepper & 2 thyme sprigs. 


Bring to a boil, then reduce & simmer for 20 minutes, until potatoes are very tender.


Slightly mash potato, add cream and bacon (mmmmm...) Remove from heat and serve.

This smelled so good, I ate a bowl already! We are having it tomorrow for dinner, which should be even better! Soups always taste better the second day, don't they? The pictures aren't very appealing, but it's more to show texture. Since I used New Potatoes, my soup wasn't as golden as it would be with Yukon Gold potatoes. But it tastes just as good!


Compared to the Cooking Light recipe, this is much thicker. And the bacon adds something really special... I also like the little bit of heat the crushed red peppers add. Simple & delicious!

Pizza Day!

Pizza Day was always my fav at school... Now that I'm older, delivery pizza isn't quite as delicious as it used to be. So, to add a little bit of excitement and subtract the guilt of a few slices, I make my own! Homemade pizza also lets you to control the amount of sauce & toppings (more or less) on your pie. Pizza night is one of our favorite meals of the week. In our house, the most popular variety is BBQ Chicken pizza.

I usually get refrigerated pizza bases from the supermarket. They definitely leave something to be desired. They are a weird texture and don't have that yummy crust around the edges. I thought I would try to make my own & improve the taste and texture. Not to mention 2 bases cost the same as a bag of flour - enough to make 10 bases!

Anyway, enough rambling. On to the recipe! Pictures to follow...


Perfect Pizza Dough


Ingredients


1 to 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 tbsp active dried yeast
4 1/3 cup Tipo 00 Flour (or strong white flour) extra flour for dusting
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp clear honey
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing


Preparation Method


1. Pour about a half cup of the water into a bowl and sprinkle over the yeast. Stir to dissolve, then leave to rest in a warm place for 10 minutes. 
2. Sift the flour, salt and pepper into a large bowl. Stir the honey & olive oil into the yeast mixture until well combined.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast mixture, mixing to form a soft and slightly sticky dough. Add enough of the remaining water, little by little, until you have achieved the correct consistency.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and lightly flour your hands. Knead the dough for ten minutes until it is smooth and pliable. 
5. Lightly oil a large bowl - it should be big enough to allow the dough to double in size. Put the dough inside and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place for 1-2 hours.
6. When the dough has doubled in size, remove the plastic wrap and punch the dough down. Remove from the bowl and knead again until smooth & air bubbles are reduced. Divide into 5 round balls and let the dough rest before shaping.
7. To shape the dough, lift a ball of dough on to a lightly floured work surface and lightly flour the top. Flatten the dough with your fingers before picking it up and slapping it onto your work surface. Repeat this a couple of times. Now drape the dough over your clenched fist
and stretch it gently from the outside rim.
8. Place the dough in well-floured pizza tins or baking sheets, top with your choice of toppings and bake in a hot oven until the topping is melted and the edges are crisp

BBQ Chicken Pizza

We always chop the chicken up small and season it with garlic, oregano, Spike, crushed chilis, S&P, and whatever else we are feelin'. 

Pre-cook your chicken & coat the base with BBQ sauce. 

Add your toppings and you're done.

Results were a success! Yes, I threw the dough in the air like an Italian. It works, OK? 

Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes. The crust puffs up in the oven & came out really nice and chewy. I suggest topping your pizzas on the cookie sheet they will be baked on. Once you see all the cheese melted and the crust turn slightly golden, they are good to go! Here are some pics of our final result. They don't really do the pizzas justice, but I was hungry, so this is all you get!

The dough recipe takes time - definitely one for the weekend. But the best part is, you end up with 5 bases. So you can easily freeze the dough balls to use later. You can also use it to make breadsticks or garlic knots like Pizza Bakery in Newport.