Culinary Goods

This had great flavor and gets a 7. You can eat them either as lettuce wraps or with rice noodles or rice, so I just did both. The recipe came from fivehearthome.com. 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts 1 cup canned coconut milk 3/4 cup chunky natural peanut butter I used 2/3 C. 4 cloves garlic, minced 3 tablespoons honey I used 2 TBS 3 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons lime juice 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more or less, to taste) 1/3 cup chopped peanuts, for garnish Fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish Rice, rice noodles, or lettuce leaves, for serving Here's the link to the instructions:   http://www.fivehearthome.com/2015/05/14/slow-cooker-thai-chicken-with-peanut-sauce/

This was okay and gets a 6. It didn't have the nice, smooth texture of regular flan, and instead just tasted like an okay pumpkin pie filling. The recipe came from Fine Cooking. Nonstick cooking spray 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup whole milk 1/4 cup evaporated milk 2 large eggs 2 large egg yolks 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 3/4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin Here's the link to the directions:  http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/pumpkin-pie-flan-crustless.aspx?nterms=50150

These have a lot of potential, but need just a bit more flavor. Jared made them and didn't make any changes. Part of the problem is that I didn't add any of the garlic mayo to mine because mayo makes me want to vomit (and it has quite literally before). I would add more garlic to it if we were to make it again. It earned a 6.5 and was a Fine Cooking magazine. For the pickled onion 1 12-oz. bottle American pale ale 3/4 cup white-wine vinegar 1 tsp. granulated sugar Kosher salt 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced For the chicken 3 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed 4 medium cloves garlic, smashed 2 Tbs. honey 2 Tbs. tomato paste Kosher salt 1 12-oz. bottle American pale ale 4 tsp. Louisiana-style hot sauce, such as Tabasco; more to taste 3/4 cup mayonnaise For assembly 24 slider buns, preferably pretzel or whole grain 2 cups baby arugula Here's the link to the directions:  http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/pale-ale-pulled-chicken-sl...

I'm sure you are all overwhelmed by my tremendous picture. This was good and get a 7.5. Jared has made this twice in the past month, and it has great flavor. Something else I really love about this is how tender the beef is. He got the recipe from Fine Cooking. 3 Tbs. olive oil; more as needed 2 large sweet onions, diced (about 4 cups) 2 large fresh poblano peppers (or green bell peppers), stemmed, seeded, and diced (about 1-1/2 cups) 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp. kosher salt; more to taste 4-1/2 lb. boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes 2 bay leaves 2 cinnamon sticks, 3 to 4 inches long 3 Tbs. New Mexico chile powder (or 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder) 1 Tbs. chipotle chile powder 1 Tbs. ground cumin 1/8 tsp. ground cloves 12-oz. bottle amber ale, such as Shiner Bock (made in Shiner, Texas), Dos Equis Amber, or Anchor Steam Liberty Ale 1-1/2 qt. homemade or low-salt beef broth For the garnish: 2 14-oz. cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained 1 m...

I give this recipe a solid 9. It's incredibly tasty. There's a mix of sweet (jam) and savory (onions and balsamic) that just really make this smoozy spread a party hit. Someone called it Purple Smooze at some point because the actual title is too long to say. One dude yelled out loud, "OMG THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER HAD." I shall call it Purple Smooze Bruschetta. This recipe is going in my permanent box. I've had the recipe for almost two years and can't remember where it came from but had never made it before. I finally made it last weekend for a game night. I put sprigs of fresh thyme on the cutting board to make it all look tasty and pretty. Fresh thyme (I pulled individual leaves off) is mixed into the smooze. I think I could have sprinkled some on top to add some depth to the presentation but I got lazy and wanted to play a game. This works well as a side or even a pre-dinner appetizer for you awesome people that like to have pre-dinner ap...

So, these were good. I give them a 7.5, but they have tons of potential. I love cake doughnuts! We were sidetracked when we fried these, so they suffered. This is supposed to make 18 doughnuts + doughnut holes using a 3” cutter, obviously, less if the cutter is larger. Here are some things to make note of: You need to fry them in shortening. Watch the temp carefully. These fall apart easily, so don’t make them too large. In fact, I would weigh the dough and measure them out into equal portions. Use real cider if you can find it. This is a solid recipe that I will use again.   Apple Cider Doughnuts   Ingredients 1 cup apple cider 3½ cups flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. kosher salt ½ tsp. ground cinnamon 1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg 4 tbsp. butter, at room temperature 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs ½ cup buttermilk Vegetable oil or shortening, for frying For coating: 1 cup granulated sugar 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon   Essentially you...

So, this recipe came from a cookbook called “Bouchon Bakery” by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel (page 86, on, and the blueberry muffin recipe I blogged earlier came from page 76). I didn’t try these, but they looked good. People said they were good, so maybe an 8 with frosting?   Pumpkin Muffins Makes 12 normal muffins or 6 jumbo muffins   1 1/2 cups + 3 Tbs. flour 1/2 tsp. baking soda 3/4 + 1/8 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. cloves 1/2 tsp. nutmeg (I also added 1/2 tsp. ginger) pinch of allspice 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1 cup + 2 Tbs. sugar I did half brown and half white 1/4 cup + 3 Tbs. canola oil I did 50% butter 3/4 cup + 2 Tbs. pumpkin 100 grams of eggs (this is about 2 eggs) raisins (we did chocolate chips instead)   Mix oil and sugar, sift dry together. Add eggs, then flour, then other half of eggs, then other half of flour. Mix just until combined. Refrigerate this overnight (or up to 36 hours). When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425 and th...