Peanut Butter Caramel Swirled Brownies

Holy deliciousness!!!!!! If you want to impress people and show off your baking skills, this is the recipe to do just that. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/peanut-butter-caramel-swirled-brownies-recipe/index.html Bobby Flay has amazed me yet again! This man can do no wrong with food! This recipe I saw on a episode of throwdown with Bobby Flay-- he lost against goat cheese brownies if I remember correctly. Man, I gotta try those goat cheese brownies because his recipe is off --the-- charts AAAAmazing!

This recipe is not as hard as it looks. There are a lot of steps but the recipe went surprisingly smoothly for me. I did not have corn syrup so instead of buying a whole bottle I was never going to use, I substituted agave nectar and it still turned out great! Also just in reading the ingredients quickly and rushing off to the store to buy them, I did not notice that the recipe states 2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, plus 4 ounces. So obviously you need a total of 6 ounces obviously and I ended up being short 2 ounces. :0 Yet the brownies still turned out amazing!

I'd keep an eye on the sugar and water because once it starts turning brown it does so fast! I think it happened in less than 5 minutes for me. When melting chocolate over boiling water, use a glass bowl for best results.

It is risky but following the directions for pulling out the brownies before they are completely done makes them so rich and soft and, oh, just plain decadent......mmmmm..... I had to leave mine in there for a few extra minutes but once the top was set I did pull them out and let them cool.

See???!!!! How pretty!!!!!

Carmelized Onion, Sausage, and Basil Pizza

This pizza is sooooooo goood! From now on when I want a meat lover's pizza, this is the pizza I will make! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/caramelized-onion-sausage-and-basil-pizza-recipe/index.html

The recipe time did take longer than what it states. To caramelize the onions it took about 40 minutes for me. You want the onions to be caramelized and golden brown. I was not an onion fan for a long time but I added some olive oil to them and I'm completely in love with them now! Then the meat I picked was an awesome mild Italian pork sausage I got from the butcher at whole foods. I think it was what put this pizza on an amazing level! Now, Gorgonzola cheese and blue cheese are intense and not for everyone. I love cheese but I admit these two are not my favorite. So I added the cheese to half of the pizza, it's good but a little too intense for me. If you are like me, I would suggest to use feta cheese. You could leave the cheese out but it definitely acts as a binder between the sausage, onions, and the dough.

As for the dough, I used the same recipe as I did for the Arugula, Ricotta, and Smoked Mozzarella pizza. The cornmeal is great for the dough not to stick to your cookie sheet. Some tips for rolling out pizza dough into a circle-- start from the center and consistently rotate. I haven't perfected rolling dough into a circle so many times I am satisfied with a rectangle but if you are going for perfection just keep rotating the angle from which you roll. Don't stick to 90 degrees. 45 degree angles should do the trick!

Arugula, Ricotta, and Smoked Mozzarella Pizza

I love pizza..... I always have. Growing up that was the answer I put when a question asked me favorite food. That's probably why I love making it! And why I'm so excited about all of the different creations one can make with pizza.........

Oh sorry, I was daydreaming. Back to this wonderful recipe by Giada: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/arugula-ricotta-and-smoked-mozzarella-pizza-recipe/index.html It is very different and wonderfully cheesy with some hidden nutrition! And it is so easy to make! Basically you combine the ingredients in a food processor and put in on the dough. The recipe states blend a couple of ingredients first, but you can put them in all at the same time. Giada does when she makes this recipe on the show. After you pulse the mixture together (it need to be pulsed, don't just turn on the food processor) and you can spread it on the pizza. It spreads so well because of the ricotta cheese! And the rest of the recipe is simple. (Yes, even though the olive oil is good for you yet fattening make sure you use it for this recipe!)

I love making dough from scratch. I like to try different recipes from time to time, and this time I tried Giada's. It is not my favorite recipe; it takes the longest but the dough is nice and smooth-- unlike other recipes. I get apprehensive about a pizza dough recipe that does not allow time to make sure that the yeast is activated-- which sadly this recipe does. It still worked out fine for me though!

I never knew about the greatness of arugula before starting this cooking hobby. It's an absolutely fantastic lettuce that is hidden in this recipe. Great for kids (and adults) that don't like the eat their vegetables! Also, the different kind of tomatoes are something I've learned as well. I now, hold you breath, like Roma tomatoes! I've enjoyed Roma tomatoes since there is actually meat inside the tomato instead of watery goop! ;) Two veggies in this yet I still love this pizza!

Hope you do too!

Beef Pops with Pineapple and Parsley Sauce

Yummy!!!! And look how beautiful! These beef pops and pineapple with parsley sauce are so good and different! The pops remind me of Hawaiian food (obviously with the pineapple) but it's still wonderfully different and a dish this picky eater enjoys! Thanks, Giada! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/beef-pops-with-pineapple-and-parsley-sauce-recipe/index.html This recipe is perfect to show off to others! Just imagine bringing this meal/big appetizer to some one's party! Since it is so simple you'll be a hit without slaving away for hours! To top it off it is a pretty healthy recipe! It is such a simple recipe therefore I only have a few suggestions. Plan for this recipe since you have to marinate the beef for a few hours and soak the skewers (I usually forget about these things). Also, try to cut your beef and pineapple to similar sizes. I was using pineapple I had cut up earlier in the week and I didn't even think about the different sizes until I got to the grilling and saw that the beef was not touching the grill pan! Finally, I want to brag (and maybe help)-- I have found a successful way to store parsley and keep it fresh for at least a week! Cut off the ends when you first bring it home and then put the parsley in a glass of water. Cover with plastic (I conveniently used the bag I brought the parsley home in-- the small plastic bags for fruits and vegetables) and you'll have long lasting parsley! Enjoy!

Poached strawberries, Peaches, and Mango Over Crushed Ice

Well my sabbatical is over! There was this thing called a diet that I didn't exactly follow but attempted.... ahem anyways..... it left my without the options to use evoo freely! How can anyone live a life without evoo or butter?!?! Butter makes everything-- and I mean everything taste better! The point is I'm back to my love of cooking and creating and altering food!

I've got a summer treat for ya that I cooked a while back. It's a sophisticated and grown-up snow cone (it does require a spoon)! Super simple and perfect for this hot weather (and it's healthy!): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/poached-strawberries-peaches-and-mango-over-crushed-ice-recipe/index.html

I did learn something new with this dish-- star anise. I'd never heard of it before but it is a seed pod that looks like a star. Apparently it is the seed for an evergreen tree grown in China and Japan and has medicinal uses. I'm pretty sure it is just used to add flavor in cooking. It has a licorice and kind of peppery flavor to me. You can find them in grocery stores but if you just want to try this dish once I'd try to find a cooking friend or neighbor (a whole container cost a bit and if you just use one seed pod it's not really worth it).

Since this dish is so super simple I don't have any big suggestions other than to definitely try it. The aroma alone of the cinnamon stick, star anise, and vanilla is aaaaammmmaaazing! I wouldn't bother with getting a vanilla bean since they are so expensive-- vanilla extract worked well for me.

Maybe this healthy desert will help you cool off this hot, hot summer!!!

Herbs!!!!

This is the time of year where spring has sprung, everyone is working their gardens, and where grocery stores have fresh herbs for sale. Just take a moment to think of how lovely that is.... Since I've started to cooking, I think fresh herbs are one of the best thing since sliced bread! Seriously. They have so much flavor in such a small package. And if you are calorie conscience....they have barely any! Every time I smell and/or eat fresh herbs it's always rejuvenating. I think herbs will baffle me for a while. Think about it. They are like a vegetable yet I love the taste and flavor of them. Recently I actually enjoyed a salad because it had cilantro in it..... surprisingly Yummmmmyyyyy! I'm not an expert in herbs but I'm pretty positive I'll be growing them for the rest of my life. So I'll be an expert one day. Plus sometimes you can't find fresh herbs in the grocery store and it will save money over time. Some tips I do have is: if you can, grow them outside, research which ones like the sun and which ones can grow in shade, and buy some fresh soil-- My herbs are inside since cats roam the streets where I live. In order to keep pests off safely all you have to do is put water and one dot of dish soap and spray your herbs. I recommend you start your own garden! These herbs are available everywhere right now-- home depot, whole foods, even tom thumb/randalls/safeway. Have fun!

Red Pepper- Basil Pesto Pizza

This recipe is so so good, new, and different! The red pepper basil pesto makes this pizza wonderfully flavored and it's something you definately won't find at your local pizza parlor!

For some reason, food has gotten a little boring for me lately, so when I saw this recipe I wanted to try it immediately! Bobby Flay has never led to me anything boring (so far): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/red-pepper-basil-pesto-pizza-recipe/index.html

Well, prep starts early if you are making your own dough. I recommend making your own simply because it's fun! Of course, if you're in a time crunch you can always go to whole foods and buy a refigerated dough that's already made but not spreaded or if you don't have a whole foods you can buy the already made pizza crust and skip the grilling of the dough part (I forget the brand name but it's not refridgerated and you usually find it at the end of the frozen food aisle). Plus with this recipe you get to cook your pizza on the grill-- how exciting is that?! It seems crazy but it does work!

Although I do worship Bobby Flay I am not in love with his pizza dough recipe. He combines the yeast with all the other ingrediants before adding in the water. Warm water with sugar activates the yeast and if it happens to not work then you've just ruin the rest of your other ingrediants without knowing. In the past, I've always activated the yeast first and then added it to the flower and such. You can tell it's activated because foam starts to form at the top. So I would try a variation of this pizza dough recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/pizza-dough-recipe/index.html You do not need a stand mixer-- a food processor would work or just combining and stirring the ingrediants yourself actually will work when making pizza dough. If you want to grill the dough disgregard the oven and pizza stone instructions. Letting it rest after the pizza dough rises will help you be able to spread the dough. Have fun with spreading the dough-- I do try to toss mine from time to time!

The red pepper basil pesto is AWWWWWesome!!!! When you roast the peppers in your house, the aroma will completely fill it and might make you tear up (that never happen to me, of course). You can grill these instead of putting them in the oven. I don't know the time difference but you want the peppers charred so that the skin will come off easily. Once you've peeled the peppers and taken the seeds out be sure to wash your hands...trust me, I'm saving your eyes from some pain!

You make this recipe your own in many ways, different kinds of cheese (I loved it with mozzarella, but I also tried it with goeat cheese which was good), add meat, add more veggies. I had left over pest0 so I've been adding it to grilled chicken and turkey sandwiches--yummy!!!

Beauty:

By the way, my grill failed me, so the cheese should be more melted than this-- either way, it's still amazing!!