Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Molten Lava Chocolate Cakes

Recipe From: Matina Roberts via Ghiradelli
We always eat these every night while on a cruise ship...finally I have a recipe!
Filling Ingredients:
2oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream (sometimes I use milk)

Cake Ingredients:
4oz dark chocolate bar
1 stick unsalted butter
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cup flour

To make the centers, melt chocolate chips and cream in a microwave. Whisk until well blended. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Form into 6 balls and refrigerate until needed.

To make the cake, melt chocolate ball and butter in the microwave. Whisk until well blended. With an electric mixer, whisk eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla on high speed for about 5 minutes, or until thick and light. Fold melted chocolate mixture into egg mixture until just combined. Mix in flour. Spoon the cake mixture into 6 greased ramekins. Place a chocolate ball in the middle of each ramekin.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. The cake should be firm to the touch. Let stand for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the ramekin and place a plate on top, invert and remove ramekin. Serve with ice cream or powdered sugar or whipped cream and berries.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Cashew, Pineapple & Pork Stir Fry

Recipe From: Our Best Bites Website
We got a fresh pineapple from Harry and David's in the mail today, which went perfect with this dish.
2 tbsp cornstarch (divided)
1 tbsp apple juice
1 lb. pork tenderloin or boneless pork chops (thinly sliced)
1/3 cup water
¼ cup sugar or splenda
¼ cup cider vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup cashews (chopped)
¼ cup green onions
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp garlic
6-8 oz snow peas
1 cup pineapple chunks

Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch, apple juice, and pork. Toss well. Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch, water, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and ketchup. Stir with a whisk; make sure there are no clumps with the cornstarch. Now collect everything that's going into the stir fry next to the stove so you can access it easily.

Heat 1-2 Tbsp. canola oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add pork and stir-fry 3 minutes. Add onions, ginger, and garlic. Stir-fry 1 minute. Add snow peas and pineapple. Stir-fry 3 minutes more. Whisk sauce ingredients again and add to pan. Bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in cashews and serve over hot rice. Garnish with more cashews and green onions if you want.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Sweet & Spicy Shrimp

Recipe Inspired By: Our Best Bites Website
I ended up using all kinds of random things in the fridge to make the marinade...not quite what the recipe called for. Below is my version...measurements are guesses, since I was just dumping things in. I forgot to take a picture, which is unfortunate because it turned out great. We served over rice and a fresh baby spring mix with fresh pineapple.

2 lb. shrimp (raw, shelled, deveined)
1 garlic clove
3" section fresh ginger
1/2 cup Chili Garlic Sauce
1/2 cup Sweet Chili Lime Sauce (HEB brand)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
fresh-squeezed lime
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
red, yellow & orange bell peppers (chopped into 1" pieces)

Rinse shrimp in cold water and place in a large Ziploc bag. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk thoroughly. Set aside about a cup of the marinade. Pour remaining mixture over shrimp and refrigerate for up to 48 hours.

Thread bell peppers onto a skewer and thread shrimp onto another skewers. When grill is hot, reduce heat to low and quickly place all skewers over the heat. Brush with reserved marinade. When they've cooked for 1 1/2-2 minutes, quickly flip them over and brush or drizzle with remaining marinade. Cook for another 1 1/2-2 minutes, or until opaque and pink. The peppers will take longer.

Remove skewers from grill and remove shrimp from skewers. Pile them on a big ol' platter, drizzle with any remaining reserved marinade, and squeeze the juice from a lime all over them.