It's easy to celebrate him - he's funny and kind, ambitious and honest. He's also a fan of ice cream, cookies, pies, cakes, brownies - basically anything with chocolate or sugar.😂 He's doesn't discriminate when it comes to dessert. This year we celebrated his birthday a little early with homemade chocolate chip cookies. 🍪  This recipe was adapted from Seriouseats.com. Basically they did all the hard work to create this amazing cookie recipe and I tweaked it to fit my own taste.😂 I've learned that Chocolate Chip preferences are very personal. There are so many options: crispy, chewy, types of chocolate, nutty, or sprinkled with sea salt. My own personal opinion about what I think makes a great chocolate chip cookie might be very different from yours. It's the reason that I have so many chocolate chip cookies on my website.😅 If you're still on the search for your favorite, check this one out. It's definitely at the top of my list and a favorite of the birthday boy too.  Chocolatey Chip Cookies 16 Tablespoons butter 1 ice cube 2 cups flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon table salt 3/4 cup sugar 2 large eggs 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons brown sugar 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
 Bake 13-16 minutes at 325.  Ciao!
0 Comments
 I'm relatively new to the scallop game. For some reason, the omega 3 rich mollusks didn't appealed to me until about a year ago. Perhaps, it was because I never tasted scallops that were prepared exceptionally well. I found them to be rubbery and tasteless which I only recently discovered is NOT how scallops are supposed to taste. 😅 💁🏻♀️ Thankfully, I was served scallops by a friend and out of politeness, I accepted and ate the scallop and I really enjoyed it. Who knew that scallops could be delicate and sweet? I still consider myself a novice when it comes to cooking scallops at home. I did my research and I feel like I was lured into a false sense of security with claims from websites like Carlsbadcravings.com that claims "You will be shocked at how easy it is to make restaurant-quality seared scallops at home". Truth be told: I actually find it quite difficult to achieve perfectly seared scallops with a perfect golden crust and juicy center in my own kitchen.  These are some of my first attempt at cooking scallops and it is not lost on my how underwhelmingly pale they are.😒 I've since done a deep dive into proper scallop preparation and deduced the mistakes that I made which prevented me from getting that delicious sear that I was looking for. First of all, I didn't properly dry my scallops before cooking. Secondly, I used extra virgin olive oil instead of an oil with a higher smoke point. Despite my unimpressive looking scallops, this dish was DELICIOUS. I can just imagine how much better it will be when I make it again with beautifully seared and browned scallops.😅😋 I think my quest to perfect the perfectly golden scallop is my new favorite hobby. 😂  Scallops with Orzo Risotto 2 Tablespoons butter 1 shallot, minced 2 garlic clove, minced 1/2 cup orzo 2 1/4 cups chicken broth 4 ounces artichoke hearts, chopped 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup grated parmesan 1 teaspoon lemon zest + 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 12 ounces scallops 1 Tablespoon oil (Not extra virgin olive oil) 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped
 Spoon orzo into bowls.  Top with scallops and serve with extra parmesan.
Ciao!  Cook over fire, they will come. 🤣 This is the tagline on the Big Green Egg website right now. Accurate though. I love my Big Green Egg and for those of you who are wondering just what that is... a Big Green Egg is a fully enclosed charcoal based ceramic oven used for cooking. Basically, anything you can cook on a propane or charcoal grill - you can make on the Big Green Egg. The food that I cook on my BGE is amazing. Burgers, pizza, smoked chicken, seafood and peach cobbler - all delicious.🍔🍕🍗🍤🥧  The Big Green Egg headquarters is based right here in the ATL. Safe to say, I've been a superfan for a long time. I started taking classes in their showroom to learn how to use my BGE over 20 years ago. I even attended some of the very first EGGtoberfest events in Atlanta as a media blogger to promote their uniquely shaped charcoal grills.🟩 🥚 I've used my Big Green Egg at least a couple of times per week for the last 20 years and the ceramic fire box and fire ring on the inside of the EGG finally cracked. Since both of these parts were covered by their warranty, I contacted the company about getting them replaced. I will spare you the details but basically I didn't proof of purchase (from 20 years ago) so they denied my warranty replacement request.😟 I'm pretty good about keeping track of important paperwork but somehow I lost track of my receipt from 2005.🙃 Big Green Egg certainly doesn't make it easy for those of us who bought our BGE's in the early 2000's to submit a warranty claim but I'm happy to report that after 6 weeks of relentless persistence, I'm the proud new owner of a new ceramic fire ring and fire box.  Pizza is one of my very favorite things to make on the Big Green Egg. When I first got my BGE, there was a learning curve while I figured out how to set it up to get the perfect crispy crust and melted cheese on our pizza. Send me a comment if you want the specifics about how to set up your Egg for pizza. This Grilled Thin Crust Fontina Pizza was so good on the BGE but if you don't have access to one - make this pizza in your oven - it's still good.🍕  Grilled Thin Crust Fontina Pizza Dough 3 cups bread flour 1 Tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon yeast 1 1/2 cups + 2 Tablespoons ice water 3 Tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons salt Pizza 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 garlic clove, minced 3 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped 3 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 1 1/2 cups fontina cheese, shredded 2 cups Pecorino Romano Cheese, shredded 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce
 Transfer pizza back to grill. Cook until bottom of pizza is browned.  Sprinkle pizza with herb mixture. Slice and serve.  Ciao!
 I don't know about you but I've got a list of things in my life that I need to work on this summer and at the top of that list is learning to rest. If you know me you know that the struggle to sit still is real.🤣 I like to work and play and do all the active stuff but when it comes to resting - count me out. Sitting is not my forte --- unless I'm building a puzzle.🧩 I watch movies while simultaneously working on my computer. I listen to audio books while I walk so I don't have to sit down to read and don't even get me started on naps - torture.😬😴🤣 I do understand the value of rest. There's a reason that it's at the top of the list of things that I need to improve about myself. There are so many benefits to resting and I realize that we all need it - heck, even my chocolate chip cookie dough needs a good rest. There's a very scientific explanation for why cookie dough improves with rest and if you want all the details www.seriouseats.com/the-food-lab-best-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe does a super job of laying out the facts. I think the science behind it is fascinating but basically, allowing your dough to rest overnight in the refrigerator hydrates the flour and thickens the dough to make darker, richer and more flavorful cookies.  If I'm being honest, I don't let my cookie dough rest overnight every single time because let's face it - sometimes I whip up a batch of cookies because I need to eat a cookie immediately.🍪 But when I take the time to allow my dough to rest properly, I end up with cookies that spread less, have lots of that butterscotch, caramel and toffee flavor that I love and cookies that brown to that perfect golden color. Tweaking my chocolate chip cookie cookie recipe is one of my favorite hobbies.😅🍪 I like to experiment with different ingredients and play around with how they're incorporated. I can go full baking geek and adjust the texture and flavor of my cookies changes by changing the temperature of the butter or the color of the sugar. I switch up leavening ingredients, the protein content of the flour and the eggs to see how I can change the outcome too. There are so many variables that can affect how cookies look and taste - I may never run out of ways to reinvent my chocolate chip cookie recipes. One of my most recent cookie creations was a browned butter, butterscotch and toasted pecan chocolate chunk cookie. I'm not one to toot my own horn but this was like a party in my mouth. There were so many flavors going on but they all worked in perfect harmony. If you decide to make these scrumptious cookies - be sure not to skip the important steps: toast your pecans, brown your butter, skip the chocolate chips and hand cut the best chocolate bar you can find and above all... chill your dough. It'll be worth it.  Pecan Butterscotch Dark Chocolate Cookies 1 cup butter, browned 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 eggs 2 1/4 cups flour 1/2 cup oats 1 tbsp cornstarch 2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup dark chocolate chunks 1 cup butterscotch chips 1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
Ciao!
 We had a little surf and turf last Sunday to celebrate Father's Day. And by that I mean - he had turf and I ate surf.🤣🥩🍤 The words surf and turf always give me hoity toity restaurant vibes. Something only to be ordered on the most special of occasions at the fanciest of restaurants.👔👗 I'm not sure how I ever landed on this theory but the reality is - surf and turf is just practical cooking when a fish eater marries a carnivore.💁🏻♀️ Since I'm more invested in the surf portion of our meal, that's where my blog will land today. Does that make me shellfish? I really think your going to love this Crispy Coconut Shrimp recipe. It's shrimple to make and super tasty so stop prawncrastinating and get to work. 🤣🤣🤣 hehehe One more... What do you call a shrimp that always gets injured??? Accident prawn.😂 I couldn't help it.  I'm such a shrimp fan and maybe it's the fact that I'm five foot nothing and faced a lifetime shrimp jokes that's caused me to embrace it.😅 Or maybe it's because it's delicious. Either way - give me all the shrimp. I like it grilled, boiled, broiled, blackened, chilled, warm, stuffed and dare I say.. even fried.🤣 Coconut Shrimp has always been a favorite of mine but I often make it often because I try keep fried foods to a minimum in my diet. Special occasions call for special treats though so whipped up a batch of these Crispy Coconut Shrimp for our Father's Day dinner last Sunday. (Even though we all know that it really was for me and not for him.😂 😉) My philosophy is this: If I'm going to indulge in fried food - it better be really, really GREAT fried food. And this Crispy Coconut Shrimp certainly fits the bill.  Crispy Coconut Shrimp 1 pound jumbo shrimp 1 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup cornstarch 2 egg whites 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut 2/3 cup panko 1 quart canola oil
 Use skimmer to transfer shrimp to a rack set on a paper towel lined baking sheet.  Ciao!
|
