Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies have been all the rage on food blogs and Pinterest, and I decided that it was time for me to make them because I finally got my hands on some pumpkin! Can you believe that multiple grocery stores near us in downtown Chicago actually run out of canned pumpkin (filling and puree) regularly throughout the fall?! I should really just stock up in the summer before everyone decides that they have to put pumpkin in everything!

Anyway, sorry about the rant, but I'm so glad pumpkin is back in my baking life and that I'm actually able to be up on my feet a little more so that I can bake! These cookies were definitely worth the wait on both accounts :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla and chocolate chips and mix well.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte

I've had this dessert planned for Bryan's birthday since last May - 11 months in advance! My friend Taylor made this dessert for her boyfriend's birthday then and when I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for Bryan's birthday too. He loves anything peanut butter and chocolate! I do too, but he's the one who grew up on peanut butter cup ice cream, when I usually prefer cookies and cream. So, I knew that this recipe would be perfect for a die-hard fan of the peanut butter and chocolate combo!

There is a little bit of planning involved in making this dish. I made the torte the night before his birthday so that it could set in the fridge overnight. Bryan actually helped me out in making the chocolate ganache topping the next day because we were going out to Cafe Iberico right when I got home from work, and we wanted to be able to dig into this torte right when we got back!

We were not the least bit disappointed! This torte is amazing!!! I wouldn't change a thing about it! I urge you to make this dessert the next time you need to impress someone because it is sure to be a crowd pleaser! The plus side, it looks fancy and is not even hard to make!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte
from Brown Eyed Baker 

Ingredients:

24 Oreo cookies, finely crumbled, or ground in a food processor

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup chopped peanuts, divided

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp instant coffee

1/4 tsp cinnamon

dash nutmeg

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, or chopped semisweet chocolate

2 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided

1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted 

12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature (this is 1 1/2 of normal sized cream cheese logs)

1 1/2 cups peanut buter

2 tbsp whole milk

4 oz chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

Directions: 

For the crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray, and place on baking sheet. 

Combine the finely crushed Oreos, salt, and melted butter and mix until crumbs are moistened.  Press into prepared springform pan to evenly cover the bottom, and 2" up the side of the pan.  Bake for 10 minutes.  

For the filling:

Combine 1/2 cup of the chopped peanuts, the granulated sugar, instant coffee, cinnamon, nutmeg, and chocolate chips and toss in small bowl.  Set aside.  

Whip 2 cups of the cream with an electric mixer until it holds medium peaks (medium peaks retain marks of the whip and will hold a soft peak that droops over slightly).  Beat in 1/4 cup of the confectioner's sugar and beat until the whipped cream holds medium-firm peaks.  Transfer to a separate bowl (if you will need the same bowl to mix together the cream cheese and peanut butter) and place it in the refrigerator.  

In mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and remaining 1 cup of confectioners' sugar until smooth.  Beat in all of the peanut butter, 1/4 cup chopped peanuts, and the milk.  

With a rubber spatula, gently fold in a quarter of the whipped cream.  Add the peanut/coffee/chocolate mixture you made earlier, gently folding in.  Lastly, add the rest of the whipped cream and gently fold in. Scrape this mixture into your prepared crust.  

Refrigerate 4 hours, or overnight to let mousse firm.  

After the mousse has firmed, make the ganache.  Place chopped chocolate in a bowl.  In small saucepan, bring remaining 1/2 cup cream to a boil.  Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate, let sit for one minute, then stir to completely blend.  Pour ganache over mousse, and spread evenly with a spatula.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of chopped peanuts over the ganache, and chill to set the topping.  This takes about 20 minutes.    

When the ganache is firm, you will want to remove the sides of the springform pan.  It was recommended to do this by warming the pan with a hairdryer for a few seconds or placing a warm, damp towel around the pan for 20 seconds.  I used the hairdryer method and it worked great.  Chill the torte until ready to serve.   

Molten Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Filling

What better to follow up a wonderful evening with Lucy, than a decadent chocolaty peanut buttery dessert? This dessert caught my eye and I knew that I wouldn't find anything better to end the evening! The only downside is that I wanted to make it ahead of time to have it ready for dessert, but that was quite impossible since the oven was occupied with gnocchi. It turned out just fine because after dinner, Lucy and I mixed these suckers up and got them in the oven in no time! They are actually pretty easy to make! I also like that the recipe only makes 4, so that I don't have to continue my unhealthy week too much longer!

They actually looked like ginormous fancy cupcakes in ramekins!

The directions call to invert them onto a plate, but I think that if you can get them out of the ramekins without inverting them, it might make a better presentation. But who cares about presentation when everyone is in sweatpants? We definitely know how to relax around here!

Once I cut into my cake, I was in awe! The peanut butter filling came oozing out so fast I couldn't catch it all in my bite! It was sinfully delicious!

I love you Lucy!

Molten Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Filling

From Food and Wine

Ingredients: 

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus melted butter for brushing

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

6 ounces dark chocolate (70 percent cacao), chopped

3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. Brush four 6-ounce ramekins with melted butter. In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa powder with 1 tablespoon of the flour; dust the ramekins with the cocoa mixture, tapping out the excess. Transfer the ramekins to a sturdy baking sheet.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter with the chocolate over very low heat, stirring occasionally. Let cool slightly.
3. In a bowl, blend the peanut butter with the 1 tablespoon of confectioners’ sugar and the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.
4. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the granulated sugar with the eggs and salt at medium-high speed until thick and pale yellow, 3 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the melted chocolate until no streaks remain. Fold in the 1/4 cup of flour.
5. Spoon two-thirds of the batter into the prepared ramekins, then spoon the peanut butter mixture on top. Cover with the remaining chocolate batter. Bake in the center of the oven for 16 minutes, until the tops are cracked but the centers are still slightly jiggly. Transfer the ramekins to a rack and let cool for 5 to 8 minutes.
6. Run the tip of a small knife around each cake to loosen. Invert a small plate over each cake and, using pot holders, invert again. Carefully lift off the ramekins. Dust the warm cakes with confectioners’ sugar and serve immediately.

Samoas Cookie Bars

Yep, that's right - the same as the Girl Scout Cookie! Did you buy Girl Scout Cookies this year? I did, for the first time since I was about 9 years old! When I grew up, these cookies were called Caramel Delights and now they're called Samoas. Apparently, it's not the time that has changed the name of the cookie, it's the region of the country you live in! When this topic comes up with friends, everyone has a loyalty to a different name, but it's the same cookie! Actually, after doing a quick 5 minute Google search, I guess the Girl Scouts use two different bakeries that distribute to certain areas of the country and the recipes are "slightly different".

Regardless, I couldn't wait to get my cookies this year, so to tide myself over I decided to make my own, in the form of BARS!!! These babies are so delicious you'll want to have them year-round. Plus, they're cheaper than $4 a box! The simple shortbread cookie is the base, topped with a coconut-caramel layer, and then it's dipped and drizzled in semisweet chocolate! Incredibly delightful.

Samoas Cookie Bars
From Sweet Pea's Kitchen


For the Cookie Base:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Topping:

• 3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
• 12-oz chewy caramels
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 10 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up the two short sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and add the egg and vanilla extract, beating until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. On low speed, mix in the flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. Pour the dough into the prepared pan and use your hands or the back of a large wooden spoon to push the crust into an even layer at the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
3. Reduce oven to 300 degrees F. Spread coconut on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and toast 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until coconut is golden brown. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
4. In a large microwave safe bowl, combine caramels, salt and milk. Place in microwave and cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir. When the mixture is smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
5. Pour mixture over the cooled cookie base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Using a small piece of parchment paper, press mixture evenly into pan. Set aside to cool completely.
6. When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
7. Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth, and remove from heat. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on the prepared baking sheet. Transfer all remaining chocolate into a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish. Chill in refrigerator until chocolate is set.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Filling

Bryan and I don't usually do very much for Valentine's Day. It just seems like a hokey holiday. We don't ignore it all together, but won't spend a lot of time planning or worrying about it. We usually will make a special dinner and have a chill evening together - which is perfect for both of our busy schedules. 

But, if I know one thing, nothing says Valentine's Day more than red velvet. I had never made anything red velvet before last week, and had only eaten it once or twice. Needless to say, I'd been wanting to try it for quite a while. I must say, these cupcakes turned out especially well! They will even be making an appearance at a friends birthday party tomorrow night!

I made a batch of these cupcakes last weekend, and they were very good. But I thought that they needed a little oomph. I generally like cupcakes, but the ones that are insanely amazing are the ones that have filling on the inside! Since I had done that once with Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins with Pecan Steusel, I thought the same idea would be perfect with these cupcakes! So, I made these from the original recipe, with a little ad-libbing. If you don't know by know, that's how I like to do things!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Filling

Adapted from Epicurious

Makes 24 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp salt

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2 oz water

2 oz red food coloring

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp baking soda

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temp

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

First, make the cream cheese filling. In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla, and stir to combine. Form the mixture into a 12-inch log on a piece of plastic wrap, wrap it, and freeze it for at least two hours. I prepared the filling the night before and left it in the freezer all night.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tins with paper liners.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs and blend well.

Make a paste of cocoa and food coloring and add to the butter mixture.

Sift flour and salt together into this mixture.

One at a time, add the following ingredients: buttermilk, vanilla, and water.

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and baking soda. Fold it into the cake batter. Make sure it's incorporated, but don't beat it.

Remove the cream cheese from the freezer, and cut it into 1-inch slices.

Scoop a small amount of batter into the muffin cups. Place 1 slice of the cream cheese log right in the center of each cup, then fill with the remaining batter.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched.

Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn the cupcakes out of the tins and onto a rack to finish cooling completely.

Frost with cream cheese frosting and enjoy!

Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Last, but certainly not least, I made some chocolate cake! It's sort of becoming a tradition for me to make a flourless chocolate cake on my birthday. This recipe was new to me, but it turned out fantastically! I must take this moment to thank those who brought other goodies. Thanks Adrie for the wonderful tuxedo cheesecake! Thanks Jon and Kelly for the awesome fancy cupcakes! Thanks Whitney for the spinach dip! Everyone else, thanks for the wine and other drinks and, most of all, for your company! It was a great end to my birthday week!

Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake with Raspberry Sauce
From Epicurious

Ingredients:
Sauce:
3 10 oz packages frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed

Cake:
12 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter, diced
1 cup freshly brewed espresso or 1 tbsp instant espresso powder dissolved in 1 cup of water
1 cup brown sugar
8 large eggs, beaten to blend

Fresh raspberries

Directions:
For sauce: Working in batches, puree raspberries and syrup in processor. Can be made ahead and kept chilled. (I found that this was way too much sauce. Feel free to use one package of raspberries.)

For cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all chocolate in large bowl and set aside. Bring butter, espresso and sugar to boil in medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add to chocolate and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk in eggs.

Pour batter into spring form pan. Place that pan on a roasting pan and pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come up halfway up the sides of the spring form pan. Bake until center of cake is set and tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 1 hour. Remove pan from water. Chill cake overnight.

Serve with sauce and fresh berries.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This past weekend, I was browsing through my cookbooks, and discovered that I had never made anything from this one that I got as a gift: Damn Good Food, 157 Recipes from Hell's Kitchen. I'm not talking about the TV show. Hell's Kitchen is a funky restaurant in downtown Minneapolis that originated before the TV show. I've actually been to this restaurant too! The inside walls are crimson red and decorated with crazy art and the servers wear interesting outfits including pajamas. And the food is really good! I thought it was about time to find something to make out of this cookbook. I found quite a few that I will make very soon! But, since it was late Sunday afternoon, I needed something that wouldn't take too much time. Since we had already planned dinner, I thought a dessert item was in order, and that's when these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies popped out right at me. The best part to me was that it said it makes 15 cookies. Perfect! I didn't have time to make batches of cookies and end up with dozens of cookies that I didn't need. So I dove right on in and started making the batter. It was fast and before I knew it, I was portioning the dough into 15 large balls onto a cookie sheet. I wondered how large to make them. I settled on a size about the size of a tennis ball. Wow, these cookies are going to be awesome! I ran out of room with 12 down on one sheet, and realized that I was not even half way through the batter. This dude must have meant huge dough balls. At this point, I resigned to the fact that I was going to end up with about three dozen very large cookies.  I got them all out on cookie sheets and through the oven. They came out perfectly and were insanely delicious. Seriously sooooo good! Everyone knows that the combination of peanut butter and chocolate is one of the greatest combinations. This recipe certainly needs to be in your mind whenever you have a craving for the peanut butter and chocolate combination!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

from Damn Good Food, 157 Recipes from Hell's Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Add butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer, and cream until pale and fluffy, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl frequently. Add peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla, and continue to mix until blended. Whisk together salt, soda, and flour in a separate bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture, blending until just combined. Add chocolate chips, and mix until just combined.

Portion cookie dough into 15 large balls (more like HUGE balls), and place, evenly spaced, onto a rimmed baking sheet. Press down lightly on the top of each ball. Place on the center rack of the oven and bake 8-10 minutes, until golden brown (I had to add about 4 minutes). Remove from the oven and cook cookies on a wire rack. 

Christkindlmarket and Holiday Party

Last night we hosted a holiday party with a large group of friends. We started off at our place and walked over to the Christkindlmarket, the German Christmas market (http://www.christkindlmarket.com/), just 5 blocks away in Daley Plaza, downtown Chicago. We got the traditional hot spiced wine in a little boot mug and walked around to all of the little vendor booths and shops looking at all of the merchandise. It was chilly out, but the wine warmed us right up! After people watching, listening to the German language all around us, and taking in the holiday cheer, we wandered back to our place for some festive holiday drinks.

We had hot spiced apple cider with rum, hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps or Bailey's and a variety of other drinks brought by our friends including wine and limoncello! In addition to the drinks, we had some nibblies that included chocolate fondue with strawberries, bananas and pretzels for dipping. A meat and cheese plate and a cookie plate were also out. Here are the recipes for the drinks and fondue!

Hot Spiced Cider:
I looked around at a variety of recipes and made my own up based on what I liked.
For one gallon of apple cider: In a large pot, heat the cider. Add 1/2 cup brown sugar, and one teaspoon of the following: ground cloves, ground nutmeg, and ground cinnamon. Serve in a mug with a cinnamon stick and add dark rum to your taste.

Holiday Hot Chocolate:
We had a teapot full of simmering water, hot chocolate mix, peppermint Schnapps and Bailey's on the side for people to mix their own drinks up.

Chocolate Fondue:
In a pot, heat 1 cup whipping cream until simmering, stirring constantly. Turn heat off and add 16oz bittersweet chocolate - I used chocolate bars broken into pieces. Add 3 tablespoons of Amaretto. Once chocolate melts, whisk together. Pour mixture into prepared fondue pot with heat source on. Enjoy with dipping sides!

Thanks to everyone who came, brought goodies along, and made our party a success! It was such a great time and we loved having everyone over!

Spritzer Cookies

Some of you may know of Spritzer cookies. I grew up eating these little buttery morsels all December growing up. They are one of my favorite Christmas cookies. I recently invested in a cookie press in order to make them myself! The one I got is the Cuisine Art Cookie Press. It is electric, unlike the one we had growing up that was a hand-crank one. Additionally, it doubles as an electric frosting machine! Total it has 12 cookie discs and 8 decorating tips!

It took a little bit to figure out the slight nuances that come along with technology (ie: how long to hold down the button as opposed to how far to crank), but eventually I got the hang of it and produced these delicious little morsels!

I'll probably be making many more of these before Christmas is upon us, and I'm okay with that! This batch was made in anticipation of our holiday party that we hosted last night! It will appear in the next post :)

Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins with Pecan Streusel

We're in Minneapolis for Thanksgiving weekend as well as our little nephew's baptism tomorrow! We are honored to become his godparents! For the family brunch following the baptism, my mother-in-law asked me to make something for a side dish. I can never get enough pumpkin, even around Thanksgiving, so my mind immediately wandered to pumpkin muffins. After a quick search through some favorite food blogs, I found this recipe and I thought it sounded perfect. Even better was that I could make it days ahead (Tuesday evening since we were traveling late Wednesday) and store it in the fridge (including a night in the trunk of the car where they froze) and just heat them up prior to serving them! They are a little high maintenance for muffins, but it is totally worth it! The trick to getting them to come out of the oven properly is to have already made the cream cheese center and have it frozen when you want to add it to the batter in the muffin cups. I did this the night before and let it freeze a whole day since I had to work all day and needed to make the muffins as soon as I got home. This also cuts down on the actual prep to finish time on baking day. I doubled the recipe to accommodate for more people coming to this brunch. I can't vouch for anyone else but me and Bryan, but these muffins are seriously amazing and are going to begin to make regular appearances in my kitchen!

Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins with Pecan Streusel
from Brown Eyed Baker


Yield: 12 muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Inactive Prep Time: 2 hours | Bake Time: 20 minutes

For the Cream Cheese Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Streusel:
½ cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup pecans, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Muffins:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
5 ounces (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) vegetable oil

1. Make the cream cheese filling: For the Cream Cheese Filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla, and stir to combine. Form the mixture into a 12-inch log on a piece of plastic wrap, wrap it, and freeze it for at least two hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.

3. Make the Pecan Streusel: In a medium bowl, use a fork to combine the flour, sugar, pecans, butter, and cinnamon. Set aside.

4. Whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vanilla.

6. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to gently combine the batter, mixing just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

7. Remove the cream cheese from the freezer, and divide it into 12 1-inch slices.

8. Scoop a small amount of batter into the muffin cups. Place 1 slice of the cream cheese log right in the center of each cup, then fill with the remaining batter.

9. Sprinkle the pecan streusel on top of each muffin. Press on the streusel lightly to make sure it adheres to the batter.

10. Bake until golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then remove muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Let them come to room temperature before serving, or warm briefly in the microwave to take the chill off.

French Market

I knew there would be a perfect time to write about the French Market that is across the street from our building in downtown Chicago.

It’s fun to stroll over to the market on weekend days when we don’t have much going on and planning our dinner on what we find. One of my favorite shops is this pasta shop that sells Pappardelle’s Pasta. This pasta is handmade, using the finest ingredients. The noodles are really loooooong, and they have all sorts of interesting flavors (including chocolate hazelnut dessert ravioli!!). We bought garlic spinach, sundried tomato, and sweet potato pasta. Our plan was to combine the garlic spinach and roasted tomato basil pasta with some lightly sautéed vegetables and make a sauce. We picked up some red and green bell peppers, tomatoes, and green onions and we were ready to go!

Sidebar: My favorite pastry shop in the French Market is Vanille Patisserie. All of their desserts are designed to perfection with layers of textures and flavors topped with accessories I didn’t even think would be edible. They have quite a few regular desserts lining the shelves and new ones pop up every now and then along with some seasonal delights.  

Anyway, back at home we got going on the pasta. As the pasta was cooking, we simply sautéed the chopped veggies in olive oil with some garlic and a variety of seasonings (we add the tomatoes at the very end). Once the noodles were drained and placed back into the pot, we started making the sauce by stirring it right into the hot noodles. We used reserve noodle water, a little half and half, grated parmesan cheese, a little butter, and freshly ground black pepper. Sometimes I’ll splash in a little lemon or lime juice too. So simple and so good. We then plated the noodles, topped them with the sautéed veggies, fresh basil and parsley, a little grated parmesan cheese, and a little freshly ground black pepper again. Delicious. We enjoyed the pasta with a deep red Malbec. Perfection. 

The uncooked noodles

Cooked noodles with our homemade sauce

With all the veggies and toppings

The pasta tasted great! The combination of the garlic spinach and the sundried tomato flavors were really awesome together. I highly recommend giving these a try. I’m really excited to try a new recipe with the sweet potato pasta!

Millenium Park Bean, Pops for Champagne, and Braised Short Ribs

On Sunday, it was Harriet and Calhoun’s one year wedding anniversary! Can you believe we were so lucky to spend such a special weekend with them?! To help celebrate, we wanted to make something special for them. My husband wanted to take charge, and came up with this great recipe for braised short ribs. While the beef was marinating, we had time to do a little city exploring. We walked over to Millennium Park to take some photos by the bean, which happens to be the top image on my blog and my favorite item in the park. This sculpture is actually named the Cloud Gate. It was inspired by mercury and the artist wanted to engage the Chicago skyline with it. You can take some seriously artistic photos using the mirrored curvature of the enormous sculpture! If only I was so artistic.

After taking fun photos at the bean, my husband and I surprised our guests with a stop at a champagne bar, Pops for Champagne, to celebrate their anniversary (thank you Groupon)! It was a great experience to try some amazing champange!

Once back at home, we were able to continue the cooking process of the short ribs which consisted of a couple hours of baking and broiling. It was worth the wait! The beef was incredibly moist and tender and the flavor was incredible. My husband chose to serve it with Cajun sweet potatoes and grilled asparagus. It was a delicious meal to end an awesome weekend with friends. Love you guys!

Lincoln Park Zoo and Grouse

We had wonderful friends come visit us in Chicago this weekend, Harriet and Calhoun (Mostly Minnesotan). On Saturday, we had a lazy morning followed by a delicious pumpkin pancake brunch. Mmm! Those pancakes are never going to get boring – they are so delicious! That afternoon, we explored the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is free! It was a gorgeous fall day, and we all enjoyed wandering around the zoo and getting a little people watching in as well. After working up an appetite, we were excited for the evening’s dinner plans. This is also when we got to take full advantage of Calhoun’s (and Sogn!) hunting skills. They had so graciously brought some fresh grouse all the way from Minnesota! I can’t claim to know the entire recipe, since Harriett and I enjoyed wine while the men prepared the food. The grouse was seasoned, breaded, and baked perfectly and was served with a garlic butter reduction alongside braised kale and a thick whole wheat loaf of bread. I’d never eaten grouse before, and it was so delicious! It looks and tastes a bit like chicken, but more gamey. MMM! Oh, and I cannot forget the chocolate mousse dessert that lasted us all weekend! Thanks so much, Harriet and Calhoun, for providing and preparing a wonderful meal!

Pumpkin Cookies

Yesterday, I just wanted pumpkin cookies. These cookies satisfied my craving instantly. They are incredible little rounds of cakey pumpkiney goodness. The batter is actually pretty cake-like. The recipe calls for using a pastry bag with a plain tip to get the batter onto the cookie sheet properly. Honestly, I used a large zip lock bag and cut off the tip and it worked perfectly. Also, the frosting proved to be a little tricky. I didn't mess the recipe up, but mine definitely turned out thinner than the picture I was going by. But it tasted great and I sort of like the look when the frosting drips down the side of the cookie.

Afternoon well spent.

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
For the cookies:
2 /34 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the icing:
4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp evaporated milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Make cookies: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.

Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe 1 1/2-inch rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.

Make icing: Put confectioners' sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Immediately add butter to confectioners' sugar. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing onto each cookie. If icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk, a little at a time.

Chocolate Mousse

My birthday was in January and my husband gave me such a great present - Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. However, after looking through much of the two volumes, I was too overwhelmed and intimidated to even try a recipe. The books are not organized like a typical cookbook, but it just takes a little getting used to. A few weeks ago, he mentioned that I still haven't made anything from it, even though I've conquered many other complicated recipes. So, I asked him to find something that we could try together. You guessed it, chocolate mousse!!! Quite honestly, he did most of it, but I did help a lot! Especially with the whipping of the egg whites by hand!




This stuff is incredible! It calls for orange liquor, but I actually used raspberry instead, since I like that fruit combination with chocolate a little better than orange.

Mousseline Au Chocolat
from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

1st step:
Ingredients: 4 egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup fruit flavored liquor, pan of not-quite-simmering water, a basin of cold water
Directions: Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until mixture is thick, pale yellow, and falls back upon itself forming a slowly dissolving ribbon. Beat in the liquor. Then set mixing bowl over the not-quite-simmering water and continue beating for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture is foamy and too hot for your finger. Then beat over cold water for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture is cool and again forms the ribbon. It will have the consistency of mayonnaise.

2nd step:
Ingredients: 6 ounces or squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate, 4 tbsp strong coffee, 6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
Directions: Melt chocolate in a small saucepan with coffee over a larger pan of hot water. Remove from heat and beat in the butter a bit at a time, to make a smooth cream. Beat the chocolate into the egg yolks and sugar.

3rd step:
Ingredients: 4 egg whites, pinch of salt, 1 tbsp sugar
Directions: Beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed. Stir one fourth of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the rest.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Serve in dessert cups or ramekins topped with whipped cream.