Broccoli Cheese Soup

I don't know about ya'll but I thought we were done with snow and freezing temperatures! BUT there's a Nor'easter in the forecast today in NYC so comfort food is on the menu in my house tonight. This broccoli cheese soup from The Pioneer Woman soup is easy peasy! Takes about 45 mins perfect to whip up after work. Serve with a BLT, ham or turkey sandwich :-)

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients

1 stick butter
1 whole onion, diced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
2 cups half-and-half
1 pinch nutmeg
4 heads broccoli, cut into florets
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups grated cheese (mild Cheddar, sharp Cheddar, Jack, etc.)
Chicken broth, if needed

Directions
Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat, and then add the onions. Cook the onions for 3 to 4 minutes, and then sprinkle the flour over the top. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute or so, then pour in the milk and half-and-half. Add the nutmeg, and then the broccoli, a small dash of salt and plenty of black pepper.

Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the broccoli is tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in the cheese and allow to melt.
Taste the seasonings and adjust if needed. Then either serve as is, or mash with a potato masher to break up the broccoli a bit, or transfer to a blender in two batches and puree completely. (If you puree in a blender, return the soup to the heat and allow to heat back up. Splash in some chicken broth if needed for thinning.)

Molten Cakes

Ingredients

·         6 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate

·         2 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate

·         10 tablespoons (1 1/4 stick) butter

·         1/2 cup all-purpose flour

·         1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

·         3 large eggs

·         3 egg yolks

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         2 tablespoons orange or coffee liqueur

 

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425

Grease 6 (6-ounce) custard cups.

Melt the chocolates and butter in the microwave, or in a double boiler.

Add the flour and sugar to chocolate mixture. Stir in the eggs and yolks until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and orange liqueur.

Divide the batter evenly among the custard cups. Place in the oven and bake for 14 minutes.

The edges should be firm but the center will be runny. Run a knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto dessert plates.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

As we all know Valentine's Day is approaching, in the next few days I'll share with you some easy chocolate recipes to share with your Valentine or if your single you can watch chick flicks and eat them all yourself :-D
Ingredients



1 dozen ripe strawberries

1 cup chopped chocolate (preferable) or good-quality chocolate chips

Directions

Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil.

Wash the strawberries and dry them thoroughly.

Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until it is melted, stirring after every 30 seconds. Overheated chocolate gets thick and hard to work with, so it's important to keep a careful eye on the chocolate. Remove it when some pieces are still not melted, and stir until they melt.

Holding a strawberry by the stem, dip it in chocolate, twirling it in a circular motion to evenly cover most of the berry. As you lift it from the chocolate, twirl it so that any excess chocolate drips back into the bowl.

Place the berry on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining berries and chocolate.

Once all of the berries are dipped, refrigerate them for 30 minutes to set the chocolate. These candies taste best when eaten the same day they are made.



Note: you can also roll the berries in chopped nuts, or sprinkles after dipped in the chocolate.

Also you can soak your berries in chocolate flavored vodka for a few hours prior to dipping in the chocolate.

Holiday Cocktails Part 5

Apple Cider Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1/4 gallon apple cider
• 1/2 cup dark rum
• 1/2 cup cinnamon schnapps
• 
  

Directions

Mix together the cider, rum, and schnapps in a large pitcher.  Pour the spiked cider into glasses filled with ice.

Holiday Cocktails part 4

Cranberry Martini 

The Traditional Martini gets festive with cranberries...

Ingredients:

• Ice cubes
• 1 cup vodka
• 1/4 cup dry vermouth
• 1/2 cup cranberry juice
• 8 cranberries, frozen
• 4 lemon zest twists (optional)

Directions:

Put 4 martini glasses in the freezer to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Fill a cocktail shaker half full with ice. Pour in the vodka, vermouth and cranberry juice. Cover with the lid and shake vigorously for about 10 seconds. 

Strain into the chilled glasses, dividing evenly. 

Garnish each glass with 2 frozen cranberries and a lemon twist. Serve immediately. 

Serves 4.

Holiday Cocktails Part 3

If your not into the rich milky cocktails such as eggnog, hot coco this punch is light and refreshing.

Citrus Champagne Punch

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 cup vodka
• 1/2 cup limoncello
• 2 teaspoons vermouth
• 1 (750 ml) bottle chilled dry Champagne or sparkling wine
• Ice
• Lemon twists, for garnish

Directions

Combine the lemon juice, sugar, vodka, Limoncello, and vermouth in a large nonreactive bowl and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, 1 to 2 hours. Add the Champagne and stir to combine.

Serve over ice in highball glasses, garnished with lemon twists.

Holiday Cocktails Part 2

Hot cocoa is another holiday favorite here are two amazingly rich recipes 

Polar Express Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

• 6 cups milk
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (use a quality chocolate like Ghirardelli)
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. In a large pot combine all of the ingredients over low heat. Keep mixture over low heat for 30-40 minutes whisking occasionally until chocolate is fully melted and incorporated with the other ingredients. You can add milk here to adjust to your chocolate preference. Give it a good whisking before serving to get it nice and frothy. If you have an immersion blender, that works great here
2. Serve immediately or pour into a crockpot and keep warm until ready to serve.

White Hot Chocolate

Ingredients
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine white choco chips and heavy cream. Stir continuously until chips have completelty melted. Stir in half and half, add vanilla and stir occasionally until heated through.


Garnish Hot Cocoa with whipped cream hearts. 

Simply freeze whipped cream on a cookie sheet, use cookie cutter to cut out hearts (obviously you can use a tree, star etc.) and serve with hot cocoa. 

Spike your hot cocoa with:

Kahlua
Rum
Peppermint Liquer
Bailey's Irish Cream
Amaretto

Holiday Cocktails Part 1

Last week I shared my Coquito recipe with you guys so in the spirit of holiday cocktails I'm back today with another one of my favorites - Eggnog! This I do not make from scratch but I do have three specific brands that I love: 

golden is my favorite but I would love to try caramel

make sure you get Holiday*

I personally like my eggnog spiked, you can use any of the following

• Hennessy 
• Amaretto
• Light Rum
• Whiskey
• Bourbon
• Whipped Cream vodka
• Vanilla vodka

I also found a recipe for an eggnog martini on Pinterest it sounds tasty I'll definitely be trying it

Ingredients:

2 1-2 oz Eggnog

1 oz  Vanilla Vodka

¾ oz Amaretto

Directions:

Combine ingredients in shaker and shake over ice. Strain into chilled martini glass. Dust with freshly grated nutmeg or cinnamon.

ENJOY!

Coquito

What is Coquito?? …A Christmas drink that’s most popular in Puerto Rico, it has a coconut flavor but is very similar to American eggnog,…It’s also the best thing I’ve ever drank! I made this for the first time two Christmas’ ago and I look forward to making it every year. NO I am not Puerto Rican BUT everyone who’s tasted it says my coquito is THE BEST they’ve ever had - it’s really easy to make but just like everything you have to have the touch* that perfect something...

The original recipe is from Daisy Martinez but of course I tweaked it with my personal touch. Because everyone loves it so much I decided to share my recipe 

2 jumbo eggs

3 jumbo egg yolks

14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

15 oz can  cream of coconut

12 oz can of evaporated milk

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 – 1 1/2 cups of light rum

Cinnamon sticks or powder to garnish

Here are a few recommendations

·         your eggs HAVE to be fresh, your drinking them raw for God's sake

·          use carnation condensed milk & evaporated milk

·         Coco Lopez cream of coconut

·         ¾ cup Bacardi light rum and ¾ Malibu coconut rum

In a blender, combine the eggs and egg yolks.

Blend on high until the eggs are pale yellow and very light.

One at a time slowly add the condensed milk, cream of coconut and evaporated milk. (keep the blender going while doing so)

Blend for a minute or two, then with the blender still running, slowly add the heavy cream. Blend until just incorporated.

Stir in the rum.

If your blender becomes too full while preparing the coquito pour  some of the mixture into another pitcher, then continue as directed.

Add the remaining coquito to the pitcher and stir well.

Chill for 2 to 6 hours.

Garnish with ground cinnamon or a cinnamon stick to serve.

This recipe can totally be made with less rum or without any rum at all. (IDK why anyone would want it w/o but I digress)

Current Addiction...

....Mojitos! 

Stuffing

This is my roughly my mother's stuffing recipe - she wasn't interested in sharing her infamous recipe...and because there's no written recipe I'm basically going by what I've seen her do. I love her stuffing sooooo much, it's one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes so I HAD to share it with you guys. It's fairly easy and delicious. I've included pictures of the stuffing mix and sausage she uses. Enjoy..

Ingredients
1 stick butter
2 cups diced onions
2 cups diced celery
2 cups green or red bell peppers
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1lb breakfast sausage
1 1/2 - 2 bags of Arnold's or Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix
1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (recommended: Bell's)
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups chicken or turkey stock

Directions
In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Saute the onions, celery and peppers for 5 minutes. Next, add the sausage and cook until browned, about 10 more minutes, stirring frequently. Meanwhile, mix the seasonings, eggs and stuffing mix. Then add the cooked vegetables and sausage and mix again. Finally, add the stock and mix well. There will be enough stuffing for a 10 to 15-pound bird and an 8 by 8-inch pan.

Buttermilk Cornbread

Cornbread. From scratch, it's easy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar2 eggs1 cup buttermilk1/2 teaspoon baking soda1 cup cornmeal1 cup all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon salt
  

  Directions

  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F 

  Grease an 8 inch square pan

  Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan

  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Glazed Ham

I'm not a big turkey eater on T Day I enjoy the ham MUCH more! Here is an interesting recipe from Ina Garten I haven't had a chance to make it yet but it sounds tasty, way different than anyone in my family makes it...Enjoy

Glazed Ham

1 medium smoked ham

6 cloves garlic

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon mango chutney (or orange)

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

Zest of 1 orange

1/4 cup   freshly squeezed orange juice (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Place ham in a heavy roasting pan.

To make the glaze, mince garlic in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients; process until smooth.

Pour glaze over ham and bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until ham is fully cooked and glaze is well browned. Serve hot or at room temperature.