Moxies White Chocolate Brownie

Moxies seems to have perfected the white chocolate brownie. No one else even really tries because moxies has it down to a science. Not much else I can say, i cant describe this little piece of heaven, you must try it yourself.

Rules to eating a white chocolate brownie:

1) It must be warm

2.) it must be eaten with ice cream.

This recipe is adapted from
http://www.buttercreambarbie.com/2009/08/white-chocolate-brownie.html
She seems to have gotten pretty darn close.

8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x9" pan. Melt white chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler, over barely simmering water until smooth, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla, mixing constantly. Drizzle in the melted white chocolate mixture. Combine the flour and salt; fold into the white chocolate mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool then cut into bars.
4. Serve heated , Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream and a generous drizzle of hot fudge or caramel sauce.

Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken Sandwich In a Homemade BBQ sauce :)

So this doesnt really count as a Recipe cause I dont have any measurements, but I was so proud of myself for making something without a recipe that actually tasted so good I HAD to share it!

This is 1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breast, in a slow cooker for 1.5 hours with, ketchup, diet coca cola, red chili powder, agave nectar, ragu pasta sauce (original), soya sauce, worcestershire sauce, salt pepper, garlic... i think thats it, but i may have thrown in some other random stuff I found in my kitchen.

Put it all in, let cook, and then shred it with two forks and serve in a bun with romaine lettuce, arugula, and some creamy havarti cheese. 

Mini Blueberry Raspberry Pies

So living on Rez is amazing, but I do usually end up with a lot of food that goes bad, especially when my parents send fruit IN DROVES. Yesterday I had over two cups of blueberries (frozen and fresh) as well as two packs of Driscoll's Raspberries, all on the verge of being too ripe to eat. Quite the conundrum.

Solution? Make pie. I decided on making mini pies, so that they could be enjoyed by me and all my roommates =) without the mess of cutting slices.

This was my first attempt at a home made pie crust. I was a little intimidated. I wish it has been a little flakier, but for a first attempt I was very pleased.

Recipe for Crust from: http://www.ehow.com/how_2069420_make-pie-crust.html

Filling Recipe adapted from: 

Ingredients for Crust:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup shortening, chilled

3 tbsp. cold water

Directions for crust:

1.) Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the water over the flour mixture. Stir with a fork to moisten, adding more water a few drops at a time as needed until the dough forms properly

2.) Gather all dough pieces into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes before rolling.

3.) Roll out the dough, and place it in a pie plate. Fill with desired contents. Try apple, cherry or even chicken pot pie. Bake according to the individual pie directions. This standard pie crust makes eight servings.

Ingredients for Filling:

1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch
2 cups fresh or Frozen blueberries

1 Cup Fresh or Frozen Raspberries
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

reheat the oven to 400F. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out about 1/4″ thick and cut into 3″ rounds with a cookie cutter or glass rim; press into each of 12 muffin cups.

In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch to get rid of any lumps; add the berries and lemon juice and toss to coat. Fill shells. Bake until crusts are golden and filling is bubbly, about 25 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge of each tart and remove while still warm; if they cool completely, any overflowing goo will cool and stick to the pan.

Five Guys Burgers And Fries =)

Yeah I know its been a while since I've written anything. Now that that is out of the way, a restaurant review. I recently read a consumer report which ranks Five guys Burgers and Fries alongside In and Out burger as the best burger chain, as voted by readers. Interesting. I have always been a proud supporter of In and out burger, but since Five Guys has gained so much attention since Barack Obama promoted it, and it is closer than California, I decided it was worth a try.

This is a LITTLE burger. A burger with a single beef patty. As tempted as I was to indulge in a Regular burger, with a second patty of fresh ground chuck. This was not a meal, it was a mid day SNACK. At Five guys all toppings are included free of charge. So myself and my friend Nabila decided to go with two different burger combinations. Above is a Little Cheeseburger, with ketchup, mayo and grilled onions. Below is a Little Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, pickles, mayo, and grilled onions.

Five Guys scores points for having real cheese, fresh ground chuck and serving OODLES and OODLES of french fries. 

In my heart In and Out will always be numero uno when it comes to Burger Joints, but Five Guys Burgers and Fries isn't a bad substitute when there isn't an In and Out for a few thousand Kms =)

Which Flavour Reigns Supreme?

So it has come to my attention that people take their food very seriously. VERY SERIOUSLY. I myself dont think I could ever be with some one who didn't like the taste of garlic. I dont know if I could even BE FRIENDS with some one who didn't like the taste of garlic. Everyone has their thing that they dont like to eat, BUT what about when propositioned with TWO AWESOME things. Where do the chips fall if you had to pick between two of the worlds great bean flavours. Vanilla VS. Chocolate. A fight to the death really. Everyone has a preference. and the battles that go down between these two groups have been EPIC, like Voldermort vs. Harry, or Good vs. Evil to say the least. Perhaps its a gender thing? or an age thing? Perhaps those people with a more refined palette choose one over the other, no one knows.

So as I sit here with NOTHING to do on a wednesday nightshift at work I decided to do a little brain
storm .

Chocolate would seem to be be the more versatile flavour at first glance. Why, it already comes in three different types. White chocolate, Milk chocolate and Dark chocolate. On top of that you get varying degrees of cocoa concentrations. What variety!

But Then you delve into the complex nature of vanilla, the basis for oh so many great recipes. Even recipes for chocolate cake and cookies and doughs of many sorts call for vanilla extract. Vanilla is almost the building block of other flavours. Think of all the delicious combinations of things when you mix vanilla with other flavours such as Vanilla Mint. It coexists with so many other flavours without overpowering them. It doesn't scream at you, it just lets you enjoy the wonderful flavour that is vanilla, in all its natural sweetness.  Vanilla works as a base for many more flavours, you can make an entirely new flavour out of a base of vanilla ice cream, you could make pineapple, or strawberry or really anything! but with chocolate you become limited to the realm of chocolate. You cant make strawberry ice cream out of strawberries and chocolate ice cream....thats just strawberry chocolate ice cream.

But then again, chocolate has all its wonderful pairings as well. No one can forget Chocolate Strawberries, Mint chocolate, caramel and chocolate, chocolate fondue...

I go back and forth on a regular basis as to which flavour truly reigns supreme. I guess it is simply a matter of personal preference. A Tie you might say...(which is almost worse than losing). It is now 2:00 in the morning and my brain can no longer process the deep complexities of the flavour world.

Are you Chocolate or are you Vanilla...just some food for thought.

The Bestest Cookies Ever!

My second fondest memory of high school, aside from doing crazy ridiculous things Im sure I will encourage my children never to do, was recess. Not for the jungle gym or the gossip at the long tables. It was the cookies. Warm freshly made 90 cent cookies that had substance to them. They weren't like those cookies you get from a box or a pre made dough. These cookies weren't flat or boring, these were real cookies. These cookies had something no other cookies had. DUNKABILITY. And I mean these cookies were tough. A real man's cookie. Day in and day out we bought these cookies, along with a single serving carton of "if it moos you win" milk. Though the carton never mooed, we would open it from both sides and revel in the taste of warm gooey cookie soaked in cold refreshing milk. And thus, I give you .... THE BESTEST COOKIES EVER (or at least my attempt to recreate it) 

Ingredients

1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 extra-large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2  teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks 

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. cream together butter, sugars, and vanilla extract.  

2. In a separate small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. Add in egg to butter & sugar mixture and incorporate well

4. Add flour mixture one spoonful at a time making sure to mix well between spoons. 

5. Fold in Chocolate Chunks 

6.  Form small 1 and a half-inch balls of dough and place on UNGREASED cookie sheets, 

7. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.  

Mango Lassi

Now it might have been the Olympics, or possibly the world cup, but lately I've been feeling a real sense of identity. My latest creation has a real sense of where I come from. It really makes me feel like I'm in the Motherland. Granted, I have never been to India...But if I went, and had a Mango Lassi, I'm pretty sure this is what it would taste like. 

Also, ever since watching Bend it like Beckham I've felt the need to be able to make a "full Indian dinner"...I know its just a drink, but its a start. 

The use of yogurt in this recipe and the minimal sugar which can be left out completely makes it a healthy favorite that everyone will love! 

Recipe Adapted from "Indian: A collection of over 100 Essential Recipes" 
Ingredients (Serves 4-5)

1 Large Mango, Peeled, Pitted and Coarsely Chopped.

3 Cups Plain Yogurt

1 Cup Cold Water 

2Tsp Sugar

Fresh Lime juice To taste (or leave it out)

Ice Cubes 

Ground Ginger to decorate 

Method:

1.) Put the Mango in the Food Processor or blender (I use a magic bullet for smaller portions) until smooth. Add water and process again to blend.

2.) Add sugar, depending on how sweet the mango is and how you like to enjoy your lassi. 

3.) Taste and add lime juice if you wish, to your liking

4.) Fill 4-6 Glasses with ice and and pour in mango lassi. Garnish with ground ginger (optional) or blueberries on a toothpick :P