Lavender Panna Cotta

I have a soft spot in my heart for Panna Cotta. It reminds me of when I worked in Maui and the Executive Chef of the hotel I worked at would make batches and batches of different flavored Panna Cotta's for the staff to try. He made ones with flavors of basil, passion fruit, coconut, etc. But my favorite was lavender.

There are a good number of Lavender Panna Cotta recipes online, but I decided to try this one. I wanted the most traditional recipe I could find, and I think this one is a fairly good choice.

Recipe (serves 8):
5 cups heavy cream
1 1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers
1 1/2 cup sugar
Two 1/2 ounce packets powdered gelatin
Honey, for garnish

Directions:
1. Combine cream, 1 cup of the milk, and lavender in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Take pan off the heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Strain out the lavender.

2. While cream mixture is cooling, pour the remainder of the milk into a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let stand for 5 minutes.

3. Stir the dissolved gelatin into the cream mixture. (If the mixture becomes too cool to dissolve the gelatin, set it back on a low flame, stirring continuously, until the gelatin is completely incorporated into the cream.)

4. Pour the mixture into individual serving vessels or one large dish. Let it sit for at least 6 hours in the refrigerator, undisturbed, on a flat surface. Drizzle with a few drops of honey for garnish, and enjoy.

 My apologies...I had no flowers to garnish my dessert with, only strawberries. So though it may look like a Strawberry Panna Cotta, it is indeed a Lavender Panna Cotta. Cheers!

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken

I love fried chicken. And I mean in the finger licking way. Fried chicken is so sinful, yet so delicious. It is absolutely worth breaking any diet for, especially if you can get your hands on the good stuff!

The recipe is very simple; the only tedious part is measuring and sifting together the dry ingredients. Other than that, this recipe is a piece of cake! (I suggest serving this with some veggies, so there's not too much guilt leftover at the end of the night *wink*)

Recipe:
4 Large Chicken Breasts
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons pepper
3 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground thyme
2 teaspoons ground sage
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Canola Oil
4 eggs
8 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Please note: The flour and spice mix is enough to make multiple batches of the chicken. I managed to only use a third of the batch for 4 pieces of chicken. If you have any leftover mix, stick it in a Ziploc bag and freeze it for the next time!

Directions:
1. Make sure that each chicken breast is roughly 1/2 inch thick. (This ensures that the chicken will all cook at the same speed) If not, place the chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap, and use a meat mallet to pound it to a 1/2 inch thickness. As an alternative, you can even slice the breast in half horizontally instead of using a meat mallet.

2. Sift together your flour, salt, pepper, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground thyme, ground sage, paprika, and cayenne pepper.

3. Whisk together the eggs and water to create an egg wash.

4. Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper on both sides before dredging in the flour mix. After dredging in the flour mix, dip the chicken in the egg wash, and dredge one more time in the flour mix. (Thus the double crunch)

5. Heat a skillet on the stove with about 1/2 inch of canola oil covering the bottom. You will want to carefully regulate the temperature as you do not want the chicken to brown too quickly. Just below medium heat works best. I kept the stove between 4-4 1/2 on a 10 dial stove and fried them gently for 4-5 minutes per side, until golden brown and crispy. 

Hint: Make sure that both sides of the chicken are still fully dredged before frying. Sometimes after dipping the chicken in the egg wash, the egg wash absorbs the flour. In that case,  just dip that chicken right back into flour mix, then into your pan.

6. Drain the chicken on a wire rack for a few minutes before dipping into the Honey Garlic sauce.

7. Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil and minced garlic. Do not let the garlic brown.

8. Add the honey, soy sauce, and pepper and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Watch the sauce as it simmer because it can foam up over the pot very easily.

9. Coat the chicken in the sauce and serve immediately.

Roasted Black Cod with Korean Flavors

I've been craving some Asian flavors these days, so I was lucky to have found this recipe in...wait for it....the Williams-Sonoma Weeknight Fresh + Fast cookbook. (It never fails me!) Seriously though, if you're cramped on time, this recipe is perfect!

The sauce was so delicious, I'm saving the excess to make stir-fry and if there's some left after that, I may try it with chicken or beef!

Recipe (makes 4 servings):
1 tablespoon Olive Oil, plus more as needed
1 Large Shallot, minced
2 teaspoons Fresh Ginger, peeled and minced
1 1/2 teaspoons Serrano Chile, minced
1/3 cup Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed
3 tablespoons Rice Vinegar
3 tablespoons Water
1 tablespoon Asian Sesame Oil
4 (about 6 ounces each) Black Cod Fillets
2 Green Onions, white and green parts, sliced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the shallots, ginger, and chile, and saute until tender (about 3 minutes). Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, and water, and simmer until the mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup (about 6 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Set aside a small amount of sauce for brushing.

3. Brush a small baking pan with olive oil, and place the fish, skin side down, in the pan. Brush the fish with the reserved sauce. Roast until just cooked through (about 10 minutes).

4. Transfer fish to plates, sprinkle with green onions, and serve right away, passing the remaining sauce alongside.

Limoncello Mini Cakes with Limoncello Glaze

Busy. Busy. Busy. That's how I like things. So, in terms of getting over a breakup, it's more like cook, bake, work, do it all over again. I'm staying busy over here searching and finding yummy recipes in lieu of moping around the house and eating masses of chocolate (aka Reese's Peanut Butter Cups) that could equal my weight. And trust, with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, anything is possible.

So, last week, I made Lemon Crinkle Cookies. I was so disappointed in the flavor that I feel the need to to find an amazing recipe to remind me how great lemons really are. I guess we can call it Redemption Week? I am fully aware that Limoncello is not the equivalent of lemons, but it is a lemon liqueur, and that's close enough for me!


Please note: I do not recommend using muffin pan for this recipe like I did.

Cake Recipe:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
4 large eggs
lemon zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup Limoncello
1 teaspoon lemon extract or lemon oil


Glaze Recipe:
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
2-3 tablespoons Limoncello
fresh raspberries or any berry for garnish, optional

Directions for Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the muffin pan (I used a king size muffin pan, which makes 6 muffins), mini bundt pans, or 1 regular sized bundt pan. You can also use non-stick spray in lieu of butter.

2.  Mix together sugar and butter until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add to the batter, alternating with Limoncello. Mix in lemon extract/oil and zest.

4. Bake king size muffin pan and regular bundt cake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Bake mini bundt cakes for 20-30 minutes depending on mini pan size, or until toothpick comes out clean.


Directions for Glaze:
1. Combine confectioner's sugar and 2-3 tablespoons Limoncello and stir until smooth, or to desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cakes. Garnish with berries (optional).

Needless to say, the lemon has been redeemed. :)

**These cakes can be freezed. If freezing, defrost the cake before glazing**

Apple Scrapple

I love when friends share family recipes with me. I feel like family recipes are the hidden gems of amazing food, since these are recipes that are passed down from generation to generation.

This recipe in particular comes from my co-worker Sarah's family. Apple Scrapple is her grandmother's version of an Apple Crisp, but her version is so much easier to make, with probably half the ingredients.

What both Sarah and I love about this recipe, is that it is simple. More specifically, in most desserts that use apples as an ingredient, many other spices and sugars are added to give the apples more flavor. This dessert keeps the integrity of the apple by only adding one other ingredient, which is to enhance its flavor.

Ingredients:
4-5 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 cup White Sugar
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter or Margarine, room temperature
Cinnamon

Ingredients

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Butter the bottom of the pan that you will use. Layer with the sliced Granny Smith Apples. Once all of the apples are placed in the pan, sprinkle the apples with cinnamon.

3. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. These ingredients will make Scrapple - this mixture should be crumbly.

4. Crumble the Scrapple and spread evenly over the apples.

5. Bake for one hour.

I highly (read: highly) recommend serving with vanilla ice cream. YUM!

Sauteed Pork with Parsnips

Time to change things up for this week! Besides bacon and honey glazed ham, I don't really eat pork. This is my first time ever really cooking it, so it was pretty exciting to see the result!

Once again, this recipe comes from the William-Sonoma Weeknight Fresh + Fast cookbook.

Recipe (makes 2 servings):
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olice Oil
10 ounces Parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 Shallots, minced
2 teaspoons and 2 1/2 tablespoons Thyme, minced
3 ounces Wide Egg Noodles
8-10 ounces Pork Tenderloin, cut crosswise into rounds 1/2 inch thick
1 cup Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Dry Vermouth or Dry White Wine
Coarse Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
All-Purpose Flour, for dredging 

Ingredients

Directions:

1.In a large nonstick frying pan over medium high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the parsnips and saute for 2 minutes. Add the shallots and 2 teaspoons of thyme. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and saute until the parsnips start to brown, about a minute. Transfer to a plate.

2. Bring a large pot three-fourths full of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles, stir well, and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain the noodles and return them to the same pot. Mix in 1 tablespoon of the oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.

3. Sprinkle the pork on both sides with salt and pepper. In the same frying pan used for the parsnips, warm the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Dredge the pork in the flour, shake off the excess, and add it to the frying pan. Cook until lightly browned, about 2 1/2 minutes on each side. Transfer the pork to a plate.

4. Add the broth, vermouth/white wine, and parsnip mixture to the frying pan and bring to a boil, stirring up the browned bits. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the parsnips are tender, about 8 minutes. Add the pork and any juices from the plate. Simmer, turning the pork occasionally, until the pork is cooked through and the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon thyme. Divide the pork between the 2 plates and spoon the parsnips and sauce over the top. Divide the noddles between the plates and serve right away.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I was originally going to bake these cookies in celebration of my boyfriend and mine's anniversary this past weekend...but seeing as how difficult it was for me to find one of the ingredients, I made them tonight!

I wanted to make these cookies because I associate lemons with being refreshing and light (in flavor). And even better? It only uses four ingredients!

Recipe (makes ~24 cookies):
1 box               Lemon Cake Mix
1                       Egg, lightly beaten
2 cups              Cool Whip (or Whipped Topping), thawed
1/2-1 cup        Powdered Sugar

Ingredients

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the Lemon Cake Mix, Cool Whip/Whipped Topping, and Egg in a bowl. You will end up with a very sticky mixture.

3. Form dough into tablespoonfuls and roll thoroughly in the powdered sugar.

4. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are golden. Allow to cool for 1 minute, then transfer to wire rack to cool thoroughly.

**Because my tablespoonfuls were quite large, I left the cookies in the oven for a few minutes longer than the said 8-10**

UPDATE: As easy and refreshing as the cookies were, I'm not compelled to make them again. There was just no "Wow!" factor to them...no memorable flavors or textures that would make me want to bake them again.