Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout Hot Chocolate

The most decadent hot chocolate married with Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout, nuff said.

Holiday detox is over my friends... so I have gone off the deep end to make the MOST decadent hot chocolate with craft beer and butter, OMG!

Beer and chocolate are two of life’s greatest pleasures for the palette. It may not be obvious, but beer pairs very nicely with chocolate. The inspiration for this hot chocolate – Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout – is silky smooth with a frothy and chocolaty head. This beer was begging to be dessert.

The Best Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

The bestest and cheesiest Pumpkin Mac and Cheese with crispy sage leaves. Thick and rich, this dish is a sure fire foodgasm!

Sometimes you have a great idea for a recipe, try it out and know it can be MUCH MUCH better. So you try, try and try again! This recipe is one of those cases I tried it many ways and FINALLY perfected it!

First- I made pasta, added in the milk, butter, pumpkin and cheese. Too cheesey and the cheese I used was too stringy and not melty enough. It was clumpy, boo not pretty!

Second- I made the pasta in milk, boiled it in the milk. I read that this makes the creamiest mac and cheese. Added cheese, butter and pumpkin once the pasta was cooked through and the milk had condensed. Topped it with MORE cheese baked it and added brown butter fried sage leaves atop. Delicous yes, but not creamy enough and kinda became solid. Booooo!

Third- The third time's the charm! I decided to make a bechamel sauce! That's the ticket. But not just any bechamel I browned the butter a but and added in some small sage leaves. After it thickened nicely I added pumpkin puree and a blend of two of the creamiest/ meltiest cheeses: Gruyere and Fontina! To add some saltiness I added some Asiago. Lastly to finish the sauce I added some freshly ground pepper and just the smallest pinch of pumpkin spice! PERFECTION! Absolute perfection!

Not a healthy one... file this under Fatty Fat Pants.

This post is part of 12 weeks of Winter squash started by Girlichef. I am soooo honored to be taking part in this with such talented bloggers!

If you haven't checked out Girlichef you should- her recipes are all amazing and there are soooo sooo many to choose from!

Thank you Heather for inviting me to take part!

Be sure to scroll to the bottom to see MORE amazing squash recipes!

What you need

1 pound of pasta (I used Trader Joe's Orechette)
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons small sage leaves (or chopped sage)plus extra for garnish
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cup lowfat milk (plus an extra splash for the end)
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
1/2 cup Fontina
1/2 cup Gruyere
1/4 cup Asiago
Tiny Pinch of pumpkin spice
Salt and Pepper to taste 
1/2 cup shredded Swiss and Gruyere cheese mix

How to make it

1- Preheat oven to 415º
2- Boil water in a large pot with salted water
3- Once water is boiling rapidly add in the pasta and cook as directed.
4- In a cast iron skillet (mine is about 12" wide) add in your butter and cook on medium.
5- when butter is melted ass in your small or chopped sage leaves. Let them brown a bit in the butter.
6- Once sage leaves are browned add in your flour and combine really well with the butter.
7- Once combined start adding in your milk slowly.
NOTE: when making a bechamel it is highly recomended that you heat the milk first, I forgot to and it seemed to work fine, I am guessing since the skillet retains so much heat.
8- Whisk in the milk and keep stirring until thickened.
9- Add in your pumpkin, fontina and gruyere, if desired you can add a little extra milk maybe 1/4-1/3 a cup depending on the desired consistancy you would like.
10- Add salt and pepper, I like a goodly amount of pepper in my mac and cheese. Also add in the tiniest punch of pumpkin spice, just for effect.
NOTE: I also added a little extra milk before topping with extra cheese to make sure when it baked it stayed nice and creamy. 
11- Add cooked pasta to the skillet, cover with remaining Swiss and Gruyere Mix.
OPTIONAL add large sage leave to top for ganish and brush with olive oil.
12- Bake in oven for about 15 minutes

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1. Chipotle chicken, hubbard squash & pinto bean soup

2. Sesame & Chile Roasted Butternut Squash

3. Spicy Butternut Squash

4. Forbidden Rice w/ Butternut Squash & Edamame

5. Pepperoini Pizza-stuffed Spaghetti Squash

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Brown Butter Bacon Ice Cream

This ice cream is the ultimate in decadent indulgence with both brown butter and bacon! Give yourself the epic treat with this southern inspired brown butter bacon ice cream.

I apologize in advance to my vegetarian friends for defiling a usually innocent childhood treat. For yes a pig died and jumped into this ice cream, but at least it died to be in something so epic! 

Since bacon is the candy of meats it only seemed fitting to be in ice cream- AND since it was my birthday and I had a bacon theme for the food- then yeah it had to happen! (I also didn't wanna bake a cake since I don't have central AC) 80% of the time I am eating all healthy and shit, loving my veggies but I go to extremes and then things like this happen and since it was my birthday, it's totally justifiable, right?!

So I thought about how to properly pay homage to the king of cured meats and what would compliment it. I never got to brown butter or even try browned butter, but I liked the idea of the caramel notes it would bring and how that intensity of sweet would contrast with the salty. To further drive this home I used brown sugar for most of the sweetness because it goes with the southern roots and the molasses added to brown sugar perfectly goes with most meats and rubs already. This all sounds fancy, but most of this is deeply intuitive, I am somehow able to taste something before I make it. So that is how my crazy train brain just works.

So basically this ice cream is a heart attack waiting to happen, but you will enjoy your last few breaths at least. You may enjoy it so much that you will make a vat of it to bathe in and roll around in to eat your way out of. Make this and eat responsibly. A little goes a loooong way!

What you need

3 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon corn starch

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 3/4 cup milk

(reserve 1-2 tablespoons of milk to mix with corn starch)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (can sub with vanilla extract)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon rendered bacon fat   (eeek I know, I'm sooooo soooo bad)

3 slices of bacon cooked crisp and cut into tiny bits (I used Trader Joe's Black Forest Bacon)

How to make it

1- Whisk together cornstarch and 1-2 tablespoons of your milk, set aside.

2- Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat, I recommend using a stainless steel pan so you can see the butter turn brown. Here is a great brown butter tutorial!

3- Remove the butter from heat once it's browned, add in your brown sugar and let is dissolve into that magical brown butter.

4- Place pot back on medium heat whisking in your heavy cream,milk, and vanilla bean paste.

5- Once it comes to a boil remove from heat and whisk in cornstarch and milk mixture.

6- Place back on heat and add the rendered bacon fat. Stir well until slightly thickened. (enough to coat spoon once removed)

7- Place in fridge overnight with the slices of bacon to infused it. (Don't chop up the bacon just yet, it will get stuck when the ice cream is churning.

8- Remove bacon slices and churn ice cream as instructed by ice cream maker

9- Add chopped up bacon pieces (I used food processor)

10- Freeze to set and serve!

Eggplant Parmesan "Meat"balls

So my gratuitous v-day post was last week, but I made this recipe around the same time and all I could say is "Damn these are good" every single time I ate one. I never posted my recipe for veggie infused meatballs, but this is a staple to me. The perfect transformation of a food I love so very much to something soooo much healthier. The secret is that I add lots of hidden veggies to my meatballs. Seriously, no one will know since they a chopped up in the food processor. So I though why the hell not add the meat at all.... and use eggplant!! Since you are going to cover it in marinara anyways later on, why not add a little fresh mozzarella cheese over top. So this magical concoction was born!

Why is this a Foodgasm?

This has EVERYTHING you love about Eggplant Parmesan, even the breading, in a crispy little ball dripping in marinara and melted mozzarella cheese. They are NOT fried, they're baked! So you are losing LOTS of calories and fat and keeping ALL the flavor. These are sooooo good, I am making them twice and I almost NEVER make the same thing twice! Even better: they are not nearly as time consuming as Eggplant Parmesan.

So I don't have kids yet. But you know, I think that kids would eat these guys up! If you have vegetarian friends coming over- you can make this and both eat meatless, healthier and be completely satisfied. Actually this is one dish that makes me think, maybe I can be vegetarian someday. It is that good. Another great thing is you can make this as an appetizer or serve these over pasta as an entree.

So a brownie and a pound cake walk into a brewery....

So you're probably seeing and expecting lots of wing recipes, nachos and all those other classic Super Bowl Snacks this week. That was the plan until I was snowed in and decided to experiment with some brown ale and developed my first ever scratch cake recipe. The results and response to the pictures were so amazing that I couldn't make you guys wait. It was delicious, fudgy madness! It also happened to be low in fat.

Well..... actually I made it that way. When I cook and bake I NEVER EVER add all the fat. My conscience just cannot allow me to do it. 3 sticks of butter?? 4??? Ouch! Unless of course I just need to learn how a recipe works in order to then find my own way to reduce the fat, LOL. 

Technically this is not a superbowl meal, but ummm who makes those rules as to what goes with football? If it were up to me, football would be a cake occasion and it DOES have beer in it after all, specifically some local Brooklyn Brown Ale. You need beer for your party and doesn't every party need cake?!

But if you don't want cake for your party (perish the thought!), fret not, I gotcha covered with some great healthy super bowl snacks from Peanut Butter and Peppers!! She has a TONS of recipes you are gonna LOVE! Check out more info at the bottom of the post!

Why is this a Foodgasm?

This is like a fudgy brownie and a pound cake walked into a brewery, had a threesome with some brown ale and they had a baby. Yeah that is totally what happened here. Totally fudgy while still holding the pound cake shape and could be cut into slices. But if that were already not good enough for you I decided to make a brown ale glaze to top it with. In this case the pics, totally speak of this magical texture!

I am proud of these photos, all the drippy deliciousness and really fudgey texture smack you in the mouth and say "Eat me". Yeah no caption needed. Just instant desire for putting it in your mouth!

How did I do it?

I used pumpkin puree to take the place of most of the fat, adding only a little coconut oil for some fat so it had a better texture overall. If you dont have coconut oil feel free to sub with some canola oil. It will work just as well. This also has 1 egg, but if you want to make this vegan you can try it without it, I am sure it would work, but may change the texture slightly.

What you need

1 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling- this has added spiced and sugar)
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup brown ale
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

For the brown ale glaze

3 tablespoons brown ale
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

How to make it

Preheat oven to 350º
1- In a mixer combine together 1 can pumpkin puree, 2 tablespoons coconut oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 large egg with the paddle attachment.
2- In a separate bowl combine together:
1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup brown ale, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3- Slowly and gradually add in the dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredinets in the mixer until well combined (give it a couple minutes).
4- Grease a nonstick loaf pan (I used Trader Joe's Coconut Oil Spray) and pour in the batter.
5- Bake for about 1 hour and let it cool. (the toothpick method doesn't work too well here, it still comes out sticking due to the texture, but an hour should do it)

To make the brown ale glaze: Whisk together 3 tablespoons brown ale and 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

Pour over the top of the cake and ENJOY!

Nutritional Information 

Lots of Vitamin A and Potassium and very little fat!  AMAZING!! Yes you can have your cake and beer and eat it too!

Peanut Butter and Peppers Superbowl Recipe Round Up!!

Does my girl Jennifer have you hooked up?? Hell yeah, just look at all these! YUMMMM!

Get her recipes HERE!

#HolidayDetox Part Three: Dinners that satisfy

Part 3 of the #HolidayDetox series explores dinner

Dinner has got to be my favorite meal of all! When I was on WW, I saved liked half my daily point for dinner. I like a big satisfying meal. One that will satisfy my belly, my heart and my cravings. Dinner for me is a comfort and many times is my time for comfort food. But I gotta find a way to trim the calories of these meals that are usually loaded with fat. If dinner is your jam too you are gonna want to read this!

Not only do I have 1 dinner recipe on this post, well I have 2 awesomely easy kick-ass dinners that you can make in your crock pot! SCORE! Sooooo easy! And of course my girl Jennifer from Peanut Butter and Peppers is back with her killer dinner recipes! Check them out after my recipes.

Aside from just the food, here at tips to make your dinner more enjoyable and will also help you eat less! It took me a looooong time to learn this on my own during my weight loss journey, but I have shared them all with you and I assure you if you try some of these tips you will not only enjoy your meal more, but actually eat less.

Chicken pot pie stew with gnocchi

Why is this a Foodgasm?

Ultimate comfort right here. Chicken pot pie! I have kept all that you live about pot pie and made it lowfat and easy! So usually chicken pot pie is literally a pie with a crust. I simplified this a bit, while there is so crust, to satisfy that carb craving I added gnocchi, they act like a dumpling in the stew but they're even better. This pot pie has a great creamy texture and it is full of veggies and chicken and a trio of wonderful herbs. Thyme, Rosemary and Sage come together to beautifully season  this and give it that classic French touch. I would say this will keep you fuller longer than a small piece of chicken pot pie.

What you need

3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1 32 oz. box of fat free low sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon Rosemary
1/2 teaspoon Sage
1/2 teaspoon Thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 small sweet potatoes, cubed
8 celery stalks, sliced
2 cups baby carrots, sliced
1 large onion, diced
1.4 oz. Chicken Breast, cubed
13 oz. Frozen Gnocchi

How to make it

1- In a large frying pan add 3 tablespoons butter let it melt on medium heat.
2- Add 1/4 cup flour and combine with melted butter.
3- Gradually stir in the 32 oz. box of fat free low sodium chicken broth.
4- Keep stirring on medium heat until it thickens.
5- Add in 1/2 teaspoon Rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon Sage, 1/2 teaspoon Thyme, Salt and Pepper to taste.
6- Put 2 small sweet potatoes, cubed; 8 celery stalks, sliced; 2 cups baby carrots, sliced; 1 large onion, diced; 1.4 oz. Chicken Breast, cubed; 13 oz. Frozen Gnocchi in the crockpot and add sauce to it and mix together.
7- Cook on low for 5 hours.

Nutritional Information 

 

 

 

Chicken Cacciatore

Why is this a Foodgasm?

Does anyone do comfort food quite like the Italians? I recently ordered Chicken Cacciatore from a take out place near my in-laws house for dinner. On paper it sounded simple enough, chicken slow simmered in a white wine and marinara sauce. I want expecting much, but I wanted a lighter option compared to the cheesy, fatty, carb heavy meals usually availible on Italian take out menus. To my surprise it was soooo delicious! I did not at all feel like I missed out by ordering this lighter dish. Sooo I needed I make my own version and make it even healthier and also make it easy to prepare! So crock pot meet cacciatore, your new best friend!

What you need

1.5 pounds chicken breast, filleted 

1 yellow pepper, cut into strips 

1 red pepper, cut into strips 

1 orange pepper, cut into strips

1 red onion, sliced thin

5 baby Bella mushrooms, sliced

1 jar marinara if your choice 

1/2 cup white wine

1 tablespoon olive oil

How to make it

1- Put a base of veggies down place chicken over the top, rest of the veggies, then top with the sauce, white wine and olive oil

2- Cook on high for 4 hours

3- Serve over pasta

Nutritional Information

 

Jennifer's Gorgeous Dinner Recipes

Lemon Infused Shrimp Scampi

 

Mediterranean Grilled Chicken

 

Friendsgiving 2013- Recap, Recipes and Infusions

Friendsgiving 2013 was a a complete success and better than EVER! I wanted to share with you a few pictures, a couple of my recipes and the recipes of the amazing bloggers and chefs that inspire me. They may inspire you as well!

Excuse the less than stellar photos, I had hungry people waiting for me to snap a pic.

Totally Roasted Eggplant Rollatini

Why is this a Foodgasm?

You may remember, not too long ago, that I made Totally Roasted Eggplant Parmesan. Well I had one more large eggplant from the garden, a straggler. So what do you think I did? I took this classic to the very next level by roasting the eggplant and making Eggplant Rollatini! That would mean that I roasted some gorgeous eggplant spooned in a cheesy magical mixture rolled it up and covered them is some lovely roasted tomatoes.

This is a beautiful and rustic looking Italian dish. It looks more rustic and beautiful than the fried version. So you not only get a prettier plate, but you are saying bye-bye to all the calories and fat involved in frying!

Win-win guys- total win win. That is what I am all about!

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup.... for the soul

Why is this a Foodgasm?

As I mention a lot, I am half Greek. Growing up with my yia-yia (grandma in Greek) when I wasn't feeling well she made me Chicken Soup, but not just any Chicken Soup. Chicken Avgolemeno Soup. A Greek Lemon Chicken Soup that she made with orzo, that is creamy, tangy, lemony and can eat like a meal. This always made me feel better from the inside out. Now that my yia-yia is no longer with me, it makes me feel nostalgic and reminds me of a simpler time. It is the ultimate comfort food.

I loved her soup, BUT there were always a couple things I wanted to change. She always used the whole chicken and tore off the pieces, but I have always been partial to white meat, hate dark. So I used chicken breast only, also happens it's healthier for you! I kept in the traditional holy trinity of celery, onions and carrots, but decided to add some mushrooms as well, why the hell not! I tried it and really liked it.

Now that cold and flu season is upon us, I thought this was appropriate. This will surely cure what ails you body and soul!

Autumn Shepherds Pie

Why is this a Foodgasm?

One of the greatest parts of Autumn is all the awesomely comforting food. Shepherd's Pie is a comfort classic of meat and potatoes that just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. However, the calories and fat packs on the sweater-weather pounds. Yeah, I don't like that part either, but that is why I am here to not only take this up a few notches with flavor, but also greatly reducing the fat! Is it magic? No it's a foodgasm!

So what did I do to achieve this? Let's take it layer by layer...
The meat layer- I took my trick from my magic portobello beef tacos and added lots of finely chopped mushrooms to the mix as well as some garlic, onion and bell pepper. To add bulk to our meat layer, lots of veggies for vitamins and fiber and for FLAVOR! I also used 93% lean ground beef, which can be rather dry, but with all the veggies it makes it much better!!
The potato layer- I used sweet potatoes since they have more nutritional value with lots of vitamins, **but this is the genius** I used some pumpkin puree mixed into it. Not only adding fiber and bulk but also giving it - FLAVOR. I also used light butter and reduced fat milk. You will not miss any of that fat, I assure you!
The cheesey crust- Reduced fat cheese is the answer, fat free is a no-go, not melty enough and lacks flavor!
 

Quick and Easy Creamy Chicken Marsala

Why is this a Foodgasm?

This meal is soooo simple I didn't even want to post it out of embarrassment!  I'm also not a big fan of using pre-made ingredients, BUT we are all busy people and sometimes we have to compromise from time to time, by not making everything completely from scratch. This dish is QUICK, EASY and LIGHT! Seriously, does it get any better?

My grandfather made the BEST chicken marsala when I was a kid. Seriously amazing!! BUT it took a while to make and it was not so healthy. Fried cutlets, smothered in a marsala wine sauce and covered in mozzarella and provolone cheese. Yup, serious foodgasm, but that bad boy was a one night stand. With this version this is the foodgasm you can marry- reliable, and kind to your waistline. So I took what I loved most about my grandfathers dish and made my own quick version of it for a weeknight. It is creamy and has lots of mushrooms and that great sweet marsala flavor!

I dredged my chicken in flour and spices, but if you want something quicker- there is no need to do it. It will be delicious regardless!