Fresh 'n Minty Choco-Cupcakes

One of Mike's favorite types of ice cream is mint and chocolate chip. This inspired me to make some minty cupcakes that provide some chocolatey goodness. They are super fast and easy too because everything is plopped into one bowl... and they bake up just like decadent brownies! I didn't frost them, but you could do a simple chocolate ganache-type coating for the top.

Enjoy.

2 cups chocolate chips- (1.5 cups semi-sweet chips and 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Preheat oven to 350

1. Prep a 12-spot muffin tin with paper liners

2. Over a pot of boiling water, in a large bowl, melt the chips and butter (double boiler).

3. When melted remove from heat, whisk in sugar and salt, and 3 eggs until well-blended.

4. Add sifted cocoa powder and flour mixture.

5. Add peppermint extract.

6. Scoop into your cupcake liners and bake for 35 minutes !

Moolicious 'n Minty!

Marguerita Pizza

Before Christmas meal madness on the 24th and 25th, I like to do a pizza. Something classic. So last night, on the 23rd, I made a simple pizza using: crust, fresh mozzarella ball, homemade sauce and fresh basil....with the colors of Christmastime in mind.

For the sauce: Simmer 1 can San Marzano tomatoes with a handful of fresh basil leaves, 3 cloves smashed garlic- (to be removed before spreading the sauce), salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. When the liquid has reduced, add a shot of white wine and stir in some tomato paste. Let that reduce, then cool (total time: 20 minutes).

For the dough: I made home made, but you can use one ball of frozen/store bought.

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Roll out dough, and place on pizza stone (or sheet pan) drizzle olive oil.

3. Cook the crust for about 12 minutes, (sans toppings!) then remove from oven.

4. Add sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil. Then bake for another 10-15 minutes or so, until the cheese starts melting!

5. Remove from oven, place on a nice wood cutting board and serve right at the table!

This whole pizza was eaten last night! Merry Christmas!

Moolicious!

Marble Loaf Cake

It's our official anniversary today. We had a nice dinner out last night and today I wanted to make a turkey, with green beans, garlic mashed potatoes and stuffing. I also wanted an anniversary cake ...but couldn't decide on chocolate or vanilla, so I went with a mix of both.

Dry:

1 & 3/4 cup sifted cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Wet:

1/2 cup butter- room temp

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1/3 cup milk

3 tbsps sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate marble part:

Once you have your batter made, in a medium sized bowl, mix together 1 cup of the cake batter, 1/4 cup hot water, 1/3 cup cocoa powder.

-Grease your loaf dish

-Preheat oven to 350

1. Sift together dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. For wet mix, beat butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla.

3. In a seperate bowl, whisk together sour cream and milk until frothy.

4. Add dry to wet mix, alternating with the milk mix.

5. Mix well, then don't forget to RESERVE YOUR 1 CUP of BATTER for CHOCOLATE PART and make it (see above).

6. Add half white mixture to loaf dish, then half choco mix, followed by the rest of the white batter, then rest of the choco part. Use a long skewer to make your marbling pattern.

7. Bake for 1 hour (test with your skewer).

8. Let rest for 5 minutes, then remove from loaf dish and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Serve with fresh/frozen berries ...

Moolicious dessert!

Simply Pork Roast

Sundays used to be roast day in my Mom's house. Sometimes I do it, most times I don't, but I had too much to do today, so I decided: roast in my slow cooker, with a few different, but easy to prepare sides: sweet potato and spaghetti squash. The beauty of the slow cooker is that it does all the work for you and there`s hardly any clean up. There`s some Grey Cup watching to do tonight, so there won`t be time to clean! Go Als Go!

The night before, I brined my pork so that it's extra juicy. In a bowl, add a nice amount of salt, pepper, coriander seeds, rosemary, lemon and limes, and enough water to cover the roast.

For the roast you'll need:

1 small pork loin roast

1 tbsp rosemary

half a cinnamon stick

fresh dill

1 clove of garlic, chopped

a few tsps of beef stock powder

1-2 cups water

flour (to thicken sauce).

1. Whisk water with all dry stuff in your slow cooker pot.

2. Add roast, set on low for 6 hours.

3. With 3 hours left to cook, add chunks of pealed sweet potato.

4. Use the juices from the slow cooker to make a gravy: just strain into a pot and reduce on the stove top, add butter and whisk in some flour if it needs to be thicker.

For the spaghetti squash:

1. Cut in half, clean out seeds and brush with olive oil, salt and pepper.

2. In a lasagna dish, put an inch of water, then put squash flesh side down.

3. Bake at 350 for an hour.

4. Allow to cool slightly, then strip flesh out with a fork. It will look like spaghetti noodles....s & p and voila!

Moolicious!

Baked Fish with a Leek 'n Potato Side

I am making a simple baked fish tonight, so I thought I would throw a potato dish in the oven alongside the fish.

So, here's what to do...In a greased tart dish, layer pealed, thinly sliced potatoes, followed by a layer of cleaned and sliced leeks, olive oil, salt and pepper. Then repeat! Potato, leek, OO, s & p. Bake for 40 minutes at 375.

Now for the fish: In a baking dish, I made a salmon filet slathered with horseradish sauce, lemon zest and juice, salt pepper and dill. For the cod filet; salt, pepper, dill, lemon. Add fish to the oven with 25 minutes left on the potatoes.

Moolicious, lazy and yum!

Pesto Chicken Strips

Here's an easy recipe that kids will enjoy. The pesto also gives in an adult appeal.

1. Prep a soup bowl with one beaten egg and 2 nice dollops of jarred or fresh pesto.

2. Prep another bowl of plain flour

3. Prep a third dish with Panko breadcrumbs.

- Preheat oven to 400

4. Cut chicken into strips, and season well with salt and pepper.

5. Dip in flour, then egg mix, then bread crumbs and lie on a parchment papered baking tray.

6. Bake strips at 400 for 30-35 minutes (depending on size of your strips).

Serve with a marinara dipping sauce, plum sauce, pesto, salsa...the possibilities are endless.

I served these with a slow cooker leek soup.

Moolicious!

Tortillasagna

(Assembling)

I enjoy all things Mexican and spicy. Here is a unique way to make a lasagna, sans noodles.

1. Grease a lasagna dish, set aside.
2. In a frying pan, heat up olive oil and add:
- one chopped onion and garlic clove and a tbsp each cumin, garlic powder, paprika, oregano- a dash of curry, saffron, turmeric and season well with salt pepper.
3. Add one package of lean ground beef, stir and cook through.
4. Preheat oven to 375.
5. To beef mix in: one pint baby tomatoes, halved, 1 can rinsed black beans, one can corn, one diced orange pepper and season again with salt and pepper.
6. Finally, begin layering- 6 small refrigerated tortillas as the base, meat mixture, marble cheddar and repeat.
- Your top layer should be tortillas covered with more cheese and sprinkled with tomatoes.
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until cheese is golden.


For an optional topping for single servings, I used a mixed salad of cucumber, dill, lime juice and an avocado over a dollop of sour cream.




Moolicious!

Cheesy Potato Strata

My mom used to make scalloped potatoes, which were ok...but I always thought they were missing something. So here, I added my own touch of bacon and really old sharp cheddar cheese.

1. Grease a baking dish.
2. Thinly slice 4 medium sized potatoes.
3. Cook 4 slices of bacon for 4-5 minutes in the microwave, cool and cut into bits.
4. Preheat oven to 350
5. Shred about 1 cup old sharp cheddar cheese.
6. Chop about 1 tsp fresh oregano.

7. Now layer and repeat: potatoes, drizzle of oil, salt and pepper, cheese, bacon, oregano.
8. The last layer should be topped with cheese and panko bread crumbs.
9. Bake for 45-50 minutes.


Moolicious!

Roasted Red Peppered Hummus

It's so easy and inexpensive to make your own hummus! Here's a quick recipe for my version.
Lots of flavour indeed.

1. In a 350 oven, roast one whole head of garlic for 45 minutes. To do: slice of the top of a whole head, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper, wrap in foil and bake. You can throw it in along side something else you're making.

2. In a food processor add: salt, pepper, one can of jumbo chic peas (a bit of the canning liquid), a squeeze of lemon juice, zest and juice from one lime, a roasted red pepper, 1/4 of an onion, pinch of red pepper flakes and your head of roasted garilc.

3. Mix until well combined- you can drizzle in some olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with fresh pita and salad greens!

Healthy and Moolicious!

Moolicious Beef Bourguignon

Mike and I love this dish.
It's a whole lot of wine and well worth it. Tonight I served it over top of whole wheat egg noodles, but you can use your favorite starch...mashed or boiled potatoes, white rice, any other pasta etc.
Enjoy!

You'll need:

1/2 cup chopped bacon

oil for pot

3 pounds lean stewing beef. (I used the blade roast type and cut all the fat off and cut it in chunky cubes)

1 sliced carrot

1 sliced onion

salt and pepper

2 tbsps of flour (this will thicken the sauce- if you like it thicker, add more)

3 cups red wine

2 to 3 cups beef stock

1-2 tbsps tomato paste

2 cloves chopped garlic (or more if you like lots!)

1/2 tsp dry or fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 package of white mushrooms, sliced

1. Prep (cut, mince, measure etc.) all ingredients before hand. Dry your raw beef cubes on a paper towel (this will help browning).

2. Put oil in your pot on med-high heat and simmer bacon pieces for 2-3 minutes, until brown, then remove and put on a large plate. - Preheat oven to 325

3. Put oil in the pot, then saute beef until brown on all sides. Remove and put it on the plate with the bacon.

4. Next, saute the carrot and onion until softened, maybe 5-6 minutes.

5. Next, put the beef and bacon back in the pot, sprinkle everything with salt, pepper and flour, stir and saute for 5 minutes more.

6. Next, add the red wine (a little for you and 3 cups for the pot!) and beef stock until meat and veggies are covered- use a whisk to get all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot!

7. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf and thyme.

-Bring to a simmer, then cover and set in the oven for 2.5 - 3 hours. Open once to stir and add the mushrooms midway through.

Serve with a crusty garlic bread or baguette!!!!

Moolicious!

Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

This pork, rice and asparagus came together quickly for a busy midweek.

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Place 1 pork tenderloin filet on a greased baking sheet.

3. Rub pork with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper, zest and juice of one lime, drizzle of soy sauce and 1 minced clove of garlic.

4. Cook for 40 minutes, remove and allow to rest 5 minutes before cutting in.

5. With 7 minutes left, I put asparagus drizzled with oil, s & p and put them on the baking tray along side the pork.

I served it with wild rice and it was....

Moolicious!

Hell Raiser Porcu-Pig Pumpkin!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope you like my pumpkin. It's a Moolicious Kitchen original design.

Like every Halloween since I've been little, my Mom has either made a frozen pizza or ordered pizza. With the excitement of it all and helping us get our makeup and costumes just right, she was too busy to cook. So that's what's on my menu this Halloween. I will continue the tradition.

For my toppings tonight, I used: BBQed chicken, orange pepper, roasted garlic, shallot, asparagus, sliced fennel and mozzarella cheese of course!