Recipe: S'mores Cupcakes (or S'mores Dessert)

 

Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow

MarthaStewart.com

5 stars

Marshmallow Frosting

Chow.com or MarthaStewart.com

5 stars

Made these for the first time -- GREAT recipe!  Found it online on marthastewart.com;  it's courtesy of Jennifer Shea, owner of Trophy Cupcakes.

Notes/Tips:

• The cake itself isn't super sweet which is good because all of the other ingredients add the sweetness.  (So, I wouldn't actually use the cake recipe for cake alone.)
• Next time, I may add a little less butter to the graham cracker crust.
• Adding the boiling water to the batter does make the batter very watery, but that's ok!
• For some of the cupcakes, I added some sea salt and a pinch of chipotle chile powder -- was delicious and gave an added dimension like the Spicy, Smoky S'mores Bars that I make.
• Don't overfill the cupcakes liners.  They will rise and then go over the rim and be hard to remove from the muffin tin (esp. since the cake is so moist/sticky).
• For the marshmallow fluff, make it the DAY-OF serving.  It will become really soft (soft peaks) and not be very stiff.  You cannot re-whip the the frosting.
• Beware of the paper cupcake liners catching fire when torching/toasting the marshmallow.
• As you can see above, I made a dessert (instead of cupcakes) using the recipe as well.

The Best Chocolates I've Ever Had: Kate Weiser

Need a gift for a chocolate lover or a hostess gift -- or a gift for yours truly?  Note that I'm not being paid to say this . . .  Kate Weiser's chocolates are the best and most beautiful chocolates I've ever had.

I was a Vosges Chocolate fan and really like Christopher Elbow's chocolates as well, but forget them;  Kate Weiser's beats them all by a LONG SHOT.  The flavors are incredible (fresh ingredients!), and they're so beautiful and artistic.  The packaging is gorgeous as well.  It is truly artisan chocolate to the highest degree.

In some of the pieces, she cracks a corner so you can see an ingredient like basil in her Strawberry Basil chocolate, peeking from underneath the chocolate shell.

I can't wait to see what other flavors she comes up with.

Her current flavors include:

• Strawberry Basil
• Fresh Mint Leaf
• Raspberry
• Passion Fruit
• Yuzu
• Key Lime Pie
• Cherry Cordial
• Sweet Potato
• Mango Habanero
• Lavender Apricot
• Truffle Honey
• Hazelnut Latte
• Banana Dulcey
• Caramelized Pineapple
• Buttery Popcorn
• Peanut Brittle
• Ninja Turtle
• Toasted Coconut
• Red Wine & Berries
• Orange Butterscotch

I recently tried her Champagne and Cognac ones as well -- they are amazing.  The liquid slowly melts and then bursts in your mouth.  Time to stop by her shop and get some more.

Recipe: Braised Zabuton with Coffee Beans

(I almost didn't include a photo since I didn't
take time to nicely plate up the food.)

Braised Zabuton with Coffee Beans
Saveur, Issue #171 (Feb 2015), p. 22
4 stars

Nice dish with lots of flavor.  It was good, but not "oh my gosh amazing;" thus, the 4 stars.  The pickled shallots were a nice touch.


Tips/What We Did:

• Used chuck roast instead of zabuton or boneless chuck flap
• Used half the amount of beef but all vegetables and 1/2 of most of the other ingredients
• Instead of coffee beans, used 1 tbsp of coffee rub that we had
• Didn't need to reduce the sauce
• Didn't strain the sauce -- but did remove the bay leaves and star anise
• Served it over rice

As you can see, I didn't exactly follow the recipe, but it was close enough to produce a nice meal.

Recipe: Salt-and-Pepper Shrimp

Salt-and-Pepper Shrimp
Bon Appetit, p. 50, Dec 2014
5 stars

This dish reminded me of my childhood -- going to the authentic Chinese restaurants in Chinatown and ordering the shrimp that was so flavorful but wishing that they didn't have shells (I didn't like having to suck the flavor out of the shells and peel the shrimp at the table).

This recipe calls for shell-on shrimp, but we unshelled (de-shelled?) them.

Ingredients include:  shrimp, Sichuan peppercorns (ground), cilantro, Fresno chile, cornstarch, vegetable oil, Kosher salt, pepper

This is a FAST recipe to make and again, has so much flavor.

Tips:

• We used a jalapeno since we couldn't find a Fresno chile.
• Even though this was a spicy dish because of the Sichuan peppercorns, it needed another red spice like paprika or chile powder to give it another dimension.
• Serve this with garlicky green beans and steamed rice.
• Beware of the heat.  The spice from cooking the shrimp got into the air that I started sneezing!

Recipe: Creamy White Lasagna with Toppings

Creamy White Lasagna with Toppings
Food and Wine Magazine, Dec 2014, p. 148
5 stars

Blog contributor and husband "the grandcruman" made this for me last month, and it was freakin' amazing.  I would have paid $22 for a serving of it in a restaurant.

Here are a few tips from him:

• Allow a LOT of time to make this -- a few hours.
• Add red pepper to give it a kick.
• Use about 2 1/4 quart of whole milk instead of 2 quarts.  (The bechamel was too thick and hard to spread.)
• For the roasted wild mushroom topping, make sure to buy and use all 2 lbs of mushrooms so you have enough.

Recipe: Potato Gratin with Goat Cheese

Potato Gratin with Goat Cheese
Bon Appetit, p. 114, Dec 2014
5 stars

Made this in a pinch when we were trying to figure out what to make for dinner.  A great quick side!

Ingredients include:  potatoes, olive oil, rosemary, goat cheese, Kosher salt, pepper

Recipe: Roasted Sunchokes with Brown Butter-Cider Vinaigrette

Roasted Sunchokes with Brown Butter-Cider Vinaigrette
Food and Wine Magazine, p. 128, Dec 2014
5 stars

I think sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) are my favorite vegetable.  I love their texture and flavor -- like a potato but crunchy and like an artichoke.  It's just such an interesting vegetable!

This was an amazing side dish/salad;  I could eat this every week.  Can't wait to make this again.

Ingredients for this dish include:  sunchokes, fresh spinach, EVOO, thyme, garlic, apple cider vinegar, minced shallots, red pepper, honey, butter, chives, Kosher salt, pepper