Chocolate Cherry Brownies

I love chocolate covered cherries. Love. Love. Love. When I came across this recipe from Six Sister’s Stuff, I pinned it immediately. And then did what I always do: Pinned way too many more things and forgot about them.

Almost three years later, I rediscover the pin! I made my own few changes to the original recipe. Dang, these were good. They were so good the entire pan didn’t make it twenty four hours. Book club ate half the pan. Others, who shall not be named, ate the other half.

Chocolate Cherry Brownies

Makes 24 - 30 brownies (depending on cut)

Ingredients

1 box brownie mix and ingredients needed to make it

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 6 oz jar maraschino cherries, cherries chopped and juice set aside

3 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar

1 cup mini chocolate chips, separated

2 Tbsp Crisco, or other vegetable shortening

1 bag milk chocolate chips

Method

1. Prepare the brownies according to the box directions. Set aside and cool completely.

2. In the bowl of a mixer, mix butter with 5 tablespoons of juice from the maraschino cherry jar. There will be a pool of juice in the bottom.

3. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar to the butter mixture until fully incorporated into a loose frosting. Slowly fold in maraschino cherries and ½ cup mini chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.

4. Using a spatula, smooth the cherry frosting over the cooled brownies.

5. Heat the Crisco and milk chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat. Stir constantly so the chocolate does not burn.

6. Pour the melted chocolate over the frosting layer. Sprinkle remaining mini chips on the top of the melted chocolate layer.

7. Place the layered brownies in the fridge to set. Cut using a thick, sharp knife. 

New Orleans BBQ Shrimp

Stuck indoors. Snow on the ground. Stuck in doors. Husband is work. Stuck in doors. Need something to pass the time.

What do I have in my pantry and fridge? Shrimp. Hot sauce.  Garlic. Half of a lemon. Half a bottle of wine. No chicken. Frozen pork chops will take a while to defrost. Hmmm.

Pinterest should give me ideas. Closet Cooking just did a post on shrimp! Click. Sweet, I have all of the ingredients.

This recipe was so easy and most of the ingredients are things I have on hand. Worchestershire. Hot sauce. Butter. Wine. Spices. It didn’t take long to cook at all with minimal prep work. The blog’s recipe did call for creole seasoning. I don’t have any pre-made, so this was one part I specifically put together based on some recipes I looked for online, what was in my spice drawer, and my own taste palette. A lot of recipes called for a lot of thyme. Thyme is not my favorite spice, so I drastically reduced it.

The sauce was finger licking good. I actually took a spatula around the pan and licked up the rest before I washed the pan. Seriously good. It is so good, that when I make this again, I plan on adding some chicken. Perhaps some sausage. And bread, definitely bread, so I can scoop up the awesome sauce.

New Orleans BBQ Shrimp Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons butter
3 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ cup hot sauce (Franks or Sriracha)
¼ cup Worcestershire
1/3 cup red wine
2 Tbsp lemon juice (1/2 of lemon)
Creole seasoning (see recipe below)
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Tbsp butter, cut into ½ inch pieces
Ground black pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Creole Seasoning
2 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp black pepper
2 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp oregano
¼ tsp thyme
¼ tsp cayenne

Method
1. In a small bowl, make the creole seasoning by mixing the spices together on the ingredients list. Set aside. 

2. Melt the butter in a pan, then add the garlic until it warms. Add the hot cause, Worcestershire sauce, wine, lemon juice, creole seasoning and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce is reduced, about six minutes.

3. Add the shrimp and cook until cooked through, about four minutes (depends) on the size of the shrimp). 

4. Reduce the heat to medium-low, stir in pieces of butter until it melts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Rustic Apple Cinnamon Galette

I have a three day Valentine’s Day weekend and was prepared to spend it mostly without my Valentine. My husband was scheduled to work straight through, but he came home on Saturday night and said he was miraculously able to take Sunday off. What a treat for me!

I wanted to make something special for breakfast Sunday morning. It is so special waking up to something baking in the oven. I had a few apples that were approaching their end of days, so I decided to use those. I also had all the ingredients for a pie crust and my ideas began to take shape. I didn’t want to make a straight up apple pie because it was too much work for a lazy Sunday morning. I decided to make a galette, or a free form rustic tart using the pie dough and apples.

I loved making this tart. There was no time push and no expectations. Tossing the apples with the cinnamon and the nutmeg and breathing in the scent, I felt them slide through my fingers. After adding the sugar, I have to admit that I snatched a few before they made it to the oven. And once it began baking in the oven, my entire space began to smell of apples and cinnamon. Add a cup of coffee, and I was in heaven.

This galette has spiced apples inside a sweet crust. It paired well with coffee for breakfast, but I could see adding whipped cream or a glaze to turn it into a dessert.

Rustic Apple Cinnamon Galette Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients

Crust
1 cup Flour, plus additional for dusting
½ cup Unsalted Butter, chopped into small pieces
3 Tablespoons Sugar, plus more for dusting
¼ teaspoon Salt
1-3 Tablespoons of cold Water
Crsico, or vegetable shortening, for greasing
1 Egg, beaten 

Filling
3-4 Apples, cored and sliced thin (I used Gala)
¼ cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Nutmeg 
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Juice from ½ of a Lemon
Salt, a pinch

Equipment
Large Food Processor
Parchment Paper
Rolling Pin
Large Baking Pan
Pastry Brush
*Fridge Space for the crust (I’m adding this to make sure I remember to clear it out if I make this again)

Method

1. In a large bowl, toss the apples with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, lemon juice and salt until they are well coated. Set aside and let them rest and soak up the spice!

2. Using a large food processor, add the flour, butter, sugar, and salt. Process until there are small clumps uniformly spread throughout the bowl.

3. Add a tablespoon of water to the dough mixture. Process for a few seconds. If it hasn’t formed one large ball, add another teaspoon and process. Repeat as necessary. As a hint, the processor will begin to rumble as it forms one large ball of dough.  

4. Remove the dough ball from the processor and place it on top one large sheet of parchment paper. Roll the dough into a circle that measures approximately 10 inches in diameter. The circle doesn’t need to be perfect as this is a rustic tart.

5. When dough has been rolled, place a second sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough circle. Place the dough in the fridge for about half an hour, or until the butter has hardened at the crust is a disc.

6. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare the baking pan with grease and a dusting of flour. 

7. After the dough has set, remove from the fridge and peel one sheet of parchment off. Place it dough side down onto the floured baking pan. Peel off the second parchment sheet.

8. Pile the apples in the center of the pie, leaving about three inches from the edge. The pile will seem very high, but they will cook down while baking. If there is extra juice in the bottom of the bowl, reserve it for a glaze (see note below). 

9. Fold the edges of the dough over, overlapping and pinching the ends together as you go. When finished, brush the crust with the beaten egg and sprinkle some extra granulated sugar over the tart, concentrating on the crust. 

This is what my galette looked like before entering the oven:

10. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until crust has a golden glow. 

*Note: If you would like to create a glaze, reserve 1-2 tablespoons of apple juice from the bowl of apples leftover in step 8. Add confectioner’s sugar a tablespoon at a time, and continue to stir until desired consistency is reached. Spoon the glaze over the galette upon serving. 

Mekong

Style: Vietnamese
My rating: 3 stars

Website: http://mekongisforbeerlovers.com/

Likes: Great beer selection, easy parking

Dislikes: Food has gone downhill and bland

We easily found parking in the front of the store, but it was visible that there was parking behind the strip of stores the restaurant resides in. Upon walking in, we were seated easily and the waitress brought us menus. No one brought us a beer menu, so we had to ask for it. The waiter brought us only one, so Brad and I had to try and read its small print sideways. That was a little frustrating and I ended up ordering an Allagash White just because it was easier than scouring the list.

We started with steamed pork dumplings and a pork spring roll. The spring roll was a little bland, but the pork dumplings had a great ginger sauce to pair. 

My husband ordered a soup bowl, with seafood and udon noodles in a chicken broth.  He enjoyed it!

I ordered a rice dish with egg, chicken, pork, and shrimp. I immediately had plate envy of my husband’s soup. The rice looked bland and uneventful. However, the flavors were there when I ate it. 

Overall, I feel that food was all right, but I can get better Vietnamese elsewhere in town. Mekong has become more of a place to order a beer, and they are overlooking their food. It’s sad that the service behind the beer service was so poor.