Best Hot Chocolate

1 1/2 cups half/half cream
1/3 cup sugar
5 oz dark chocolate, chopped

Simmer the cream and sugar together until just boiling. Stir in the chocolate until melted. Don't let it boil. Serve warm in demitasse cups.


Serves 4 

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients


CRUST
•21/2 cups (625 mL) chocolate baking crumbs
•1/4 cup (50 mL) granulated sugar
•1/2 cup (125 mL) unsalted butter, melted

FILLING
•8 oz (225 g) semi-sweet chocolate
•4 blocks of cream cheese, each 8 oz (250 g), at room temperature
•1/2 cup (125 mL) regular sour cream
•11/4 cups (300 mL) granulated sugar
•1 tbsp (15 mL) all-purpose flour
•2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla
•4 eggs

GLAZE
•4 oz (112 g) semi-sweet chocolate
•1/2 cup (125 mL) whipping cream
•2 tbsp (30 mL) honey or corn syrup
DIRECTIONS

1.For crust, butter or oil sides of a 9-in. (23-cm) or 10-in. (25-cm) springform pan. Wrap pan with foil, over bottom and sides, making sure it comes to the top edge so water from the water bath in step 3 won’t leak in. Double wrap if necessary. In a large bowl, using a fork, stir chocolate baking crumbs with sugar, then stir in butter. Press mixture onto bottom of pan. Refrigerate while preparing cheesecake filling.

2.Preheat oven to 325F (160C). Put a kettle of water on. Finely chop chocolate and place in microwave-safe bowl. Heat on medium power for 2 min or until almost melted, stirring halfway through. Remove from microwave and stir until completely melted. Set aside. Place cream cheese in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until smooth, scraping down sides occasionally. Beat in sour cream, sugar, flour and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time, just until blended. Beat in cooled chocolate. Pour onto chilled crust.

3.Place wrapped springform pan in a broiler pan or shallow-sided roasting pan. Place in centre of preheated oven. Pour enough boiling water into broiler pan to come about 1 in. (2.5 cm) up side of foil-wrapped springform pan.

4.Bake until filling is almost set when springform pan is jiggled, about 40 min. Remove broiler pan to a rack. Run a knife around inside of cake pan to help prevent cracking. Let stand until water cools, about 30 min.

5.Remove pan from water. Discard foil. Cool completely, then cover pan with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, 4 hours. Remove cake from pan. If making ahead, refrigerate up to 3 days. Or over-wrap with foil and freeze for up to 1 month.

6.For glaze, finely chop chocolate and place in a medium bowl. Bring cream just to a boil, in a saucepan on the stovetop or in a bowl in the microwave. Pour hot cream over chocolate. Add honey. Stir just until chocolate is melted and evenly mixed. Just before serving, pour and spread glaze over cake. Top with assorted berries and chocolate curls.

*Finishing touches*
PERFECT CURLS

Melt 4 oz (112 g) chopped milk, dark or white chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over simmering water. Using a spatula, thinly spread melted chocolate into a rectangular shape on the back of a baking sheet. Refrigerate so chocolate can harden slightly. Check often; it’s ready when it’s no longer shiny, but still malleable. Using a palette knife (a bendable metal spatula), hold both ends so metal blade is horizontally across chocolate in front of you. Press into the chocolate, scraping and pulling in one motion toward you, to form curls. The shape of the curl will depend on the angle of the blade and the temperature of the chocolate. If it sticks and doesn’t scrape at all, it is too soft. If it breaks into shards, it’s too hard. If you don’t get curls the first time, just re-melt and try again. Refrigerate curls in an airtight container until firm, or up to 3 days.

CANDIED FRUIT
Fruit cooked in a light simple syrup is a great way to dress up any dessert. We chose kumquats, small oval-shaped citrus fruit. Candy the edible peel and flesh for a sweet and tangy topper. It’s easier than you’d think: Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Stir 1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar with 1 cup (250 mL) water in a saucepan and set over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, until it’s syrupy, about 5 min. Slice 1/4 lb (125 g) unpeeled kumquats in half lengthwise, or crosswise into rounds. Add to boiling water. Boil for 3 min. Drain, then plunge into ice-cold water. Drain and add to syrup. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until soft and slightly translucent, 12 more min. Cool. Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks. Remove kumquats from syrup before using.

Recipe Group

Alright, so because I know someone who did this and how well it worked, here is a way to see if I can get enough interest to make it worthwhile to do so as well.

I love getting new recipes. I enjoy using recipe books when there is tried and tested recipes in it.

If you are like me, than getting the chance to share your recipes, and gain new ones this Facebook group is for you. We are trying to see if we have enough interest and involvement to print our own recipe book of recipes. If, however, there is not enough interested, we will combine them onto a website so that we can atleast have a collection of these tested and loved recipes.

Homemade French Fries - Deep Fried

1/3 cup white sugar

2 cups cold water
2 large russet potatoes – peeled, and sliced into 1/4 inch strips
6 cups vegetable oil for frying
salt to taste (I usually use seasoning salt for a better flavor, but regular salt works, too!)

DIRECTIONS


In a medium bowl, dissolve the sugar in cold water. Soak potatoes in water mixture for 30 minutes. Remove from water, and dry thoroughly on paper towels.

Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Add potatoes, and cook for 2-3 minutes, yes, the potatoes will NOT be golden brown at this point, don’t worry. Drain on paper towels for at least 5 minutes. Once the fries are thoroughly drained, put them back in the deep fryer for another 3-4 minutes or until golden crispy and light brown. Dump them onto a paper-towel-lined container/counter and QUICKLY salt them to taste. The key is to salt them while the oil is still glistening on the fries, so that the salt adheres to the fries. Allow to drain one minute and then serve.

Tip:If you would like to make fries that can go from the freezer to the fryer just like storebought, simply fry them the first time, allow to drain and cool, place seperately (not touching) on a cookie sheet in the freezer overnight, then once solidly frozen, you can pour them into a gallon size freezer bag and put back in the freezer until you desire to serve them, days, weeks, or even months later. When you pull the fries back out of the freezer, do not thaw, simply fry them for 5-6 minutes in 375 degree oil, then salt and drain as you usually would!

Tex Mex Sweet and Red Potato Salad

From Weight Watchers Turn Around Program Cookbook


1.lb each of Sweet and Red Potatoes
4 tsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6T fat free mayonnaise
3T chopped fresh cilantro
1tsp grated lemon zest
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp cumin
1/4tsp ground coriander
1/8tsp cayenne

Cut potatoes into cubes. Toss with 2tsp olive oil and roast at 425 for 35-40 minutes. Meanwhile, cook onions in oil in skillet. Combine mayo, cilantro, lemon zest, and seasonings in small bowl. Combine potatoes, onions and sauce, mix well. Serve warm or at room temp. 2 points for 1/2 cup.

Chicken Fingers w/Honey Mustard Sauce

3c corn flakes
1/2 t poultry seasoning
1/4t black pepper
3 T fat-free egg substitute (you can also use 1 egg+2 egg whites)
3 T skim milk
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast (4 breast halves)
Nonstick cooking spray

Sauce

1/4c +2T nonfat or reduced fat mayo (I just skip the mayo all together)
3T spicy mustard
3T honey
2T lemon juice



Blend the corn flakes in a food processor until crumbs. (Before I got a food processor I put them in a ziploc bag and smashed them up!) Combine the crumbs with seasonings. Combine the egg and milk and whisk together. Cut each chicken breast into 5 long strips. Dip the strips first in the egg and then the crumb mixture, coating all sides well. Coat baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray, and arrange the strips in a single layer. Spray the tops of the strips lightly with the cooking spray, and bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until the strips are golden brown and no longer pink inside. For the sauce, just stir all ingredients together. These are 1 point per strip with 2t of sauce.

Put those together with some oven fries and a salad and you have yourself a meal!

Crock Pot Chicken Nuggets

--4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

--4 T butter or olive oil (I used butter)

--4 eggs

--1 cup breadcrumbs, or a mixture of cracker, cereal, tortilla chip, etc. crumbs.

--1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

--1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

--1 T flax seed meal (optional---I threw it in. They'll never know.)

The Directions

I used 6 chicken breast halves, and layered the cut up pieces in a 6 quart Smart Set Crock-Pot.

Make sure the chicken is fully thawed. Cut into child-size pieces. I found that the smaller pieces I made cooked better than the larger ones. The larger ones also didn't get crispy on top---stick to about 2 inch pieces.

In a bowl, mix the melted butter or oil with the egg. Blend up the cracker and cereal crumbs to make a fine bread crumb mixture and pour into a pie plate.

Spray your crockpot with cooking spray. I did not. You really should.

Dip each piece of chicken in the egg mixture, and then toss in the crumbs. Put a layer of battered chicken pieces in the bottom of the crock. When the bottom is full, add a piece of aluminum foil. Poke tiny holes in the foil to allow steam to escape. I found that the layer I did with the most holes worked the best, and the layer I skimped on resulted in soggy topping. The holes are important.

I made 4 layers with 6 cut-up chicken breast halves.

Cover your crock, but vent the lid with a wooden spoon or chopstick. Cook on high for 2-4 hours. Melissa's took 2 hours to cook, my batch took 4. After cooking, we both left our crockpots on warm for a few hours before eating.

Cook Roast for MAX Flavour

Despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, I still see recipes that insist you should cook meat at high temperature for the first twenty minutes or so to seal it and then lower the level for the rest of the cooking time. Cooking meat at high temperature, whether in the oven, on the barbecue or in a pan does not seal it, it burns it and it changes the taste, because the outside of the meat generally has a covering of fat. Fat is what gives meat its unique flavor.
 
It’s not a good idea to cook meat covered inside a roasting tin. A much better way is to place the roast directly on the rungs of the oven with the roasting tin underneath it. In this way, you can pack vegetables in the roasting tin and they will cook nicely in the juices from the meat.

If you don’t like that idea, because it means you have to clean the rungs after use, put the meat on top of a rack in or on the roasting tin instead. You don’t need to buy a special tin for this, simply use a cake/cookie cooling rack or something similar. I have even used two or three kebab skewers and rested the roast on those in the roaster with the lid removed the whole time. When cooking the roast in the Crock Pot, I even use a rack to elevate the meat from the bottom of the pan.
 
COOKING IN OVEN
Cook your red meat at 350°F, 180°C, or gas mark 4.


Calculate your cooking time as 30 minutes for every 500 grams (roughly 1lb) of meat. This will produce thoroughly cooked beef that is well cooked on the outside and rare inside.

If you want to change anything - alter your cooking times accordingly but beware. There is a very thin line between meat that is well done and boot leather. If rare meat is more than you can handle, it’s a much better idea to use my cooking times but then turn the oven off and leave the meat in it for a further 30 minutes or so.

Which brings me to one more point; it’s very important to let the meat stand for at least 20 minutes before carving. Why? Because when you heat protein (which is what meat is) it shrinks and tightens. Allowing it to relax and cool a little restores some of its elasticity.

However it will continue to cook for a while after leaving the oven and the internal temperature will increase by as much as a further 10 degrees. Which is why you need a good 20 minutes resting time.

Just keep it in a warm place with a sheet of cooking foil over the top while you prepare the greens and gravy.

COOKING IN CROCKPOT

WHether frozen or thawed, cook on low, elevated to keep it up from the juices for better roasting. If thawed, cook for 5-6 hrs. If frozen, cook for 8-9 hours, checking at 6hrs.

New Blogs of Interest

I came across these, and found some great recipes. I thought I would share. :)

A Year of Slow Cooking - results of a New Year's resolution to use the Slow Cooker (aka Crockpot) everyday all year.

PLUS, some GF sites recommended to me by a good friend.
Elana's Pantry
HEY, That Tastes Good!
Gluten Free Goddess
Strawberries are Gluten Free

This recipe is one I found on the Strawberries are GF site that is so easy to make with Sam...AND TASTY!

Peanut Butter Cookies

•1 cup peanut butter
•1 cup sugar
•1 egg

1.Stir together.
2.Drop on ungreased cookie sheet by teaspoonful.
3.Press with sugared fork.
4.Cook 325 for 8 – 10 minutes.

Could it BE easier?

GF Bread (Machine Recipe)

2 ½ cups milk
3 ¾ cups Rice Flour
2 tbsp tapioca starch
1/3 cup sugar
4 ½ tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
4 ½ tsp yeast
*optional* 1 tbsp honey
*optional* can also add ¾ cup raisins or chocolate chips

Beginning with the milk, place all ingredients in the bread machine pan. Cook on basic 2 lb cycle (3 hours). It is best to add honey part way through the mixing of ingredients (to avoid the honey settling to the bottom of the loaf).

Add raisins during the last 10 minutes of the final kneading.

GF Baking Powder Biscuits

Works great as a pizza crust!

½ cup shortening
3 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ¾ cup rice flour
1 ½ tsp tapioca starch
2 ½ tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp salt
¾ - 1 cup milk *in dryer conditions additional milk may be required*

Preheat oven to 450 F. Cut shortening into dry ingredients. Stir in enough milk to form dough. Knead 10 times. Roll out ½ inch thick. Cut into round biscuits. Bake 12-14 minutes or until bottoms are browned.

GF Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter/margarine
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 ¼ cup white rice flour
1 tsp GF baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp xanthan gum
12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F. Cream butter and sugars together. Add vanilla and eggs; mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum; add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Add chocolate chips. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 8 – 9 minutes or until done.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

2 boxes chocolate cake mix (Use GF mixes to make GF version)
½ cup butter
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 F. With an electric mixer beat cake mixes, butter, and eggs together. Spoon dough onto ungreased cookie sheet (keep in mind, not too big). Bake for 9 – 12 minutes. When cool, ice bottom of one cookie with cream cheese icing then press another cookie to it making a sandwich. (With the Kinnikinnick Gluten-free cake mix you will want to use 1-2 extra eggs for best results—you’ll know it’s enough when the mixture is moist and can form balls)

Cream Cheese Icing

1-250g package of cream cheese
½ cup butter
3-4 cups icing sugar

Cream the cream cheese and butter together using an electric mixer. Add icing sugar gradually until desired consistency is achieved.

GF Cinnamon Rolls

2 tbsp shortening or butter
¼ cup sugar
2/3 cup of milk
1tbsp yeast
1 egg
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup potato starch
1 cup corn starch
¼ tsp baking soda
2 ½ tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp GF baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 F. In medium bowl, combine shortening and sugar, mix well. Measure warm milk and add yeast to milk. Whisk well to fully dissolve.

Add milk/yeast to sugar mixture. Add remaining ingredients. Mix very well, being sure to remove all lumps. Dough will be quite soft.

Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it out so it covers a 13 ½” X 13 ½” square. Sprinkle 1-2 tbsp extra sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Then pull out another sheet of wrap and gently lay over the dough. Pat the dough down into a roughly squarish pancake. Lift the top wrap up and then reposition it. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in between the two layers of wrap. Occasionally you’ll have to lift and reposition the wrap because it gets “stuck” under the edges. You might have to occasionally flip the whole thing over. Make sure that when you’re done you’ve got ABOUT a 13 ½” X 13 ½” square of dough.

Remove top piece of wrap and spread melted margarine across the top of the dough with a pastry brush. Sprinkle on a mixture of 1/3 cup brown sugar and ¾ tsp cinnamon. Spread evenly across dough’s surface. (*Optional* spread on chocolate chips or raisins.) Use the bottom piece of wrap to lift the edge of the dough and start to roll it up forming a long cylinder. Start with the sugary edge, which will be the center of your roll and roll toward the sugarless edge. Cut off or trim up the irregular ends of your “log.” Then cut into 8 or 9 slices of similar size, about 1 ½” wide. Place rolls into a greased round pie pan. Bake approximately 20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.

GF Apple Crisp

4 cups sliced/chopped apples
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup rice flour
½ cup, partially cooked, millet or quinoa (strained of excess moisture)
1/3 cup soft margarine
¾ tsp cinnamon
¾ tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease 8 inch square pan. Spread apples in greased pan. In a bowl, stir remaining ingredients until well mixed; sprinkle/spread over apples. Bake about 30 minutes or until top is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with ice cream or whip cream to top.

(The cooked millet makes this apple crisp more moist then traditional apple crisps but without cooking the millet becomes crunchy and doesn’t fully absorb the moisture from the apples and margarine.)

Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies #1

1 cup shortening
¼ cup margarine
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cup rice flour
2 tbsp tapioca starch
2 ½ tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder


Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream shortening, margarine, and sugar together. Add eggs then vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours (this is an essential step for rolling gluten-free dough). Knead until pliable before rolling dough on floured surface until ¼ inch thick (for best results roll on mixture of 3 parts flour to 1 part sugar). Bake for 10-12 minutes (time will vary based on thickness of rolled dough).

Pea Soup

This is the best split pea soup recipe I have. It is so delicious!

Split pea is a hearty soup and makes a great lunch or light dinner with just a piece of good bread or a salad.

2 cups split peas, rinsed

6 cups cold water
5 cups chicken broth
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk with leaves, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper to taste
dash each of parsley, thyme, marjoram and cayenne pepper

1. In a large pot add peas with 6 cups of cold water. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours until the split peas are tender.
2. Add chicken broth, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, sugar, lemon juice, bay leaf and all spices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for another 1/2 hour or until carrots are soft.
3. Remove the bay leaf. Cool slightly. Puree in a blender for a smooth soup or leave as is.

*I often will add cubed leftover ham, or bacon bits to the soup before serving.

*Omit the chicken stock and simmer the soup with a ham bone, for a traditional split pea and ham soup.


*While peas are simmering, in another pot, cook 1/2 cup of barley with 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until most of the water has been absorbed. Drain and rinse barley with cold water. Add barley to pureed pea mixture. Heat soup and serve.

*Replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock for a hearty and healthy vegetarian soup recipe.

This soup freezes well. Put individual servings in the freezer for quick meals on cold days.

Serves 8