(Chocolate) Peppercorn Cookies for Valentine's Day (or breakfast?)

See, this is why I don't have homemade chocolate cookies in the house - While friends like Tucker and Shannon stay thin by baking and dropping off, I tend to eat their treats for breakfast....

Today's recipe comes from Tucker, who dropped off these delicious and surprisingly named, Peppercorn Cookies yesterday. After one bite, I was addicted to the incredible chocolate beginning with the hint o' heat aftertaste. (hence the breakfast thing). I just had to share the recipe for Valentine's Day so you can either bake and drop off, or sit and enjoy ~

I found an internet version of the recipe (since that's the raison d'etre of the blog) on Food.com and added Tucker's version in red so you get the real deal. The big differences are that Tucker's cookies are chocolate based (yumm) and she rolls the dough into a log in order to slice the cookies.
~ Enjoy

Prep Time: 20 mins Total Time: 30 mins Yield: 48 cookies

Recipe
3 cups unbleached flour (Tucker uses 1.5 cups)

3/4 cup unsweetened powdered cocoa -

2 teaspoons baking powder No baking powder

1 cup butter, softened 12 T butter, softened

1 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns ( a generous t. (or more) 1/8 t ground pepper

1 pinch cayenne 1/8 t cayenne

1 tablespoon ground ginger no ginger - however, I think this would be nice

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3/4 T cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves no cloves

1 3/4 cups sugar 1 cup sugar

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 egg

powdered sugar for dusting

Directions
Heat oven 375'. 350'

Combine flour and baking powder.

In another bowl, cream butter till it is pale yellow and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar and spices, then egg. And finally, gradually beat in flour.

Roll dough into 12" log. Chill till firm ..Slice into 1/4" slices. Arrange on greased cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Watch them closely since it's hard to tell if they're burning!! Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cool.
Knead dough on floured surface a few times. Divide it into 3 pieces and roll each piece to 1/8" thickness. Cut with cookie cutters and place onto ungreased (or parchment-lined) baking sheet. Bake until edges are golden, about 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 (1022 g)
Amount Per Serving % Daily ValueCalories 92.9 Calories from Fat 36 39% Amount Per Serving % Daily ValueTotal Fat 4.0g 6% Saturated Fat 2.4g 12% Cholesterol 14.5mg 4% Sugars 7.3 g Sodium 44.1mg 1% Total Carbohydrate 13.4g 4% Dietary Fiber 0.2g 1% Sugars 7.3 g 29% Protein 0.9g 1%

Fig and Blue Cheese-Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

OMG - I now have a signature dish. Even though I only used this Cooking Light recipe as a basis for my dinner last night - it was the perfect guide to a perfect meal.

If you like the taste combination of figs and blue cheese, you're going to love this. I started by using what I had in the house: A small pork loin blade roast (not tenderloin), Stonewall Kitchen's Fig & Ginger jam (I'm sure any Fig jam will do - you can find it by the cheese/deli displays) dried thyme, salt/pepper and blue cheese crumbles - that's it.

All I did was mix the jam, blue cheese and thyme together (you can choose your own taste concentration between figs & blue cheese depending on the ratio you use). I molded it into a log that would fit my roast, wrapped it in plastic and froze it - this is a trick to keep it from melting all over the pan when it's cooking. I then cut a slit, length-wise into the meat without piercing the end. Stuffed my frozen cheese log inside, seasoned with salt and pepper and threw it into the oven at 450 degrees for 10 mins to brown. I then removed it, spread A BIT of diluted fig jam on top and put it back in the oven at 325 degrees to finish cooking.

When it was done, I removed the pork for slicing and added a bit of white wine to the drippings and the bit of melted fig/cheese mixture in the pan to create a sauce. It was very easy and tasted like a really good restaurant meal. Not a bad use for a $4.00 piece of meat.

(photo: Cooking Light - Randy Major)

~ Enjoy

Chicken and Black Bean Chili

Hi, I'm back. Actually, I've been trying new Internet recipes but I haven't been happy enough to post them (one was a Caribbean red bean recipe to try to recreate the really yummy dish I had at Johnny Longboat- ok, who's the joker who said you didn't have to soak the beans first??? And the other recipe was a creative way to deal with Christmas left overs. Trust me, the turkey enchilada recipe lived up to it's name!).

So here we are with an easy chicken and black bean chili from http://www.allrecipes.com/ . It should actually be called 'chipotle' chili because the recipe calls for chipotle chili and I, may have added more than suggested. Still really good. My only tweaks were to use chicken thighs, not add all the water, and instead of adding green pepper sauce, I added hot Pace Picante Sauce. Ok, I also added a couple of pieces of broken taco shell to the mixture to thicken it in a gluten-free friendly way. After I added my requisite cilantro, all was good with the world. (photo: courtesy of Sherry who posted her version on the website.)

~ Enjoy!

Asian-Flavored Seared Tuna with Green Beans

Ok, here's disclaimer #1 - I know NOTHING about cooking tuna besides the fact that it should be seared on the outside and really pink on the inside. Disclaimer #2 - I'm not a big fan of fish or soy sauce. But did this stop me from trying Epicurious.com's Asian-flavored seared tuna with green beans? Heck no. Since I live in a fishing community, I need to explore and understand this whole fish-thing beyond salmon and lobster - and who knows, maybe come to like it.

This recipe came very highly recommended on the Epicurious website and I liked the fact that it was an all in one, main course and veggie. I have to admit that I tweaked it to my taste (so it relied less on the soy sauce) and really liked the results but my husband was more non-committal. We might try this recipe again once we master the art of searing fish on the BBQ (perhaps heat up a pan and do it that way?) All tips are appreciated. However, for one-inch thick pieces of fish, cooking them 2 minutes per side resulted in the requisite raw-to-pink colored center.

If it's of interest, my tweaks included: grating fresh garlic, ginger and a hint of orange rind into the soy sauce/wasabi marinade. I also added a bit of sesame oil and about 1/2 tsp of brown sugar. I marinated the fish, then removed them and placed them on the grill. As they were cooking, I threw some thawed green beans with almonds into a frying pan - gave it a minute or two to heat and crisp up before then adding the reserved marinade with perhaps, another 1/2 tsp of brown sugar. It was done by the time my husband pulled the fish off the grill four minutes later.

I thought it was a really nice change from steak and pork chops. If you do choose to make this dish, I highly recommend that you read a few of the reviews and as a result, severely cut back on the amount of brown sugar. (No photo was available on Epicurious. This photo is from a similar recipe on http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/sesame-seared-tuna/Detail.aspx)

~ Enjoy!

Pioneer Woman's Braised Short Ribs

Hi there,

I'm back online and cooking after finishing the build and moving into our new home (so that's where I packed the frying pan....).

After hanging up all my clothes, my goal yesterday was to put together a nice Sunday dinner that didn't include take-out. After a quick look on the Pioneer Woman's website, I thought her Braised Short Ribs looked like a great choice for a beautiful autumn day. And it was - with enough grease to make it seem really decadent!

I like her website because she provides pictures of every step - or, if you're impatient like Shannon, zip down to the bottom of the page where she recaps the recipe. However - Shannon - the pictures saved me from throwing away the cooked pancetta (as if I would) because the recipe doesn't tell you to put it back in the pot with the ribs.

I only changed a few things that probably don't make a difference either way: 1) I coated the ribs in Montreal Steak Spice instead of just salt and pepper, 2) I added garlic to the veggie mix, 3) I combined a small can of diced tomatoes with a bullion cube and enough water to measure 2 cups of liquid - instead of using just broth, and 4) I added more red wine (I think this is why Corbet Canyon was invented) to the gravy to add a little more wine flavor and thin out the sauce.

I served it with wasabi mashed potatoes (add wasabi paste to regular mashed potatoes for an extra kick). So if you don't mind the grease - I think you're going to like this recipe. (Photo: Ree Drummond)

~ Enjoy!

Pioneer Woman's Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

I love this woman - no not in that way... but there's nothing wrong with that... but I gotta say, her blog is amazing! (Who's backing it and how do I get in?) And is it wrong to send people to other people's blogs? Just saying - The Prairie Woman is a lot of fun and I really liked my first recipe from her site. (photo - Ree Drummond)

I tried her Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce when a friend backed out of dinner plans. While Ree made everything from scratch - I used what I had in the fridge: a jar of roasted red peppers, some roasted almonds (yes, I like them cold), goat's cheese, rice noodles and chili flakes (from the pantry). Her rendition is probably better, but this worked in a pinch and tasted really good on a rainy evening.

All I did was follow her directions, but blended the jarred roasted red pepper with the almond in a food processer (no need for extra salt), added chili flakes to the onions and garlic, and goats cheese (with wine and milk) instead of cream. I'm still wheat free so I used rice noodles.

Taaa dah - and it only took 15-20 minutes until dinner was served.

~ Enjoy!

Guy Fieri's Coconut Rice and Peas

Whole Foods got me hooked. I tried some coconut rice at their lunch counter and there was no turning back. Lots of comfort-food love.

The question was, could I make it at home? No problem. I searched the Food Network and thought the Guy Fieri Coconut Rice and Peas presentation had a great twist - lots of different tastes (coconut, garlic and chili) that blended really well - and oh ya, it has cilantro - my favorite. It was easy to make and complimented the swordfish I marinated with the recipe I picked up from Rachael Ray's mixed Greek grill (see below) - I couldn't go wrong. My only suggestions is that I upped the coconut milk vs chicken stock ratio (and added a bit of left over coconut milk at the end for an extra punch) and added grated lime rind and juice - just a preference. I find it perks up the taste.

~ Enjoy!