Bourbon Brownies w/Rum Caramel Ganache

       Pictured above, had me at Bourbon and baking with booze.  This is something you can make and thoroughly impress yourself and others, I'm talking major swooning here.  The hardest part is resisting seconds, cause the first one was that good, yeah I still want seconds.  I got the idea from this lady's blog and altered the recipe slightly to fit my needs.  Her don't waste your time making it totally from scratch, is what I call brilliant.  Simply sub your favorite Bourbon for water and viola!  The rum ganache is kinda the best part, I'd make it again and drizzle it all over ice cream and such, I added a touch of sea salt on top and pow!  Double swoon.

Recipe as follows: 

• Box of Ghirardelli Double Choc. Brownie Mix 
• Sub Bourbon for water on Box Recipe 
• Bake at 350

Caramel/Butterscotch Ganache

• 6 tablespoons Heavy Cream
• 3 tablespoons Butter
• 2 teaspoons Rum
• 3 oz Caramels unwrapped
• 3 oz Butterscotch 

Melt Butter & cream together till they're almost boiling.  Poor over Caramels and Butterscotch Chips in glass measuring cup, stir.  Finish melting in Microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute, till completely melty. 

Make sure brownie is warm and drizzle your Ganache on top, add whip or vanilla ice cream and sprinkle sea salt for a magical experience!  

It's What's For Lunch: Chicken Tacos w/a Mustard Brown Sugar Glaze

    These tacos are just ridiculous, in a yum-sorta way of course.  Sometimes I make things on the healthy, hey chicken breast why do you taste so good?  That brown sugar sure is your jam, and whole grain mustard? I shouldn't have...  Make some of these already.

What you'll need:

• Chicken Breast
• Whole Grain Mustard
• Olive Oil
• Brown Sugar
• Sesame Seeds
• Arugula
• Corn Tortillas
• Dash of Sea Salt
• Dash of Cracked Pepper

Dice up chicken breast into small chunks so it will cook evenly and fast.  Place diced meat, a heaping spoon of whole grain mustard, splash of olive oil, salt, pep, and sprinkle sesame seeds.  Once it's half way through cooking, making sure you turn over the pieces, add a generous spoonful of brown sugar, let it simmer and make your house smell delicious.  Grill up some corn tortillas and place arugula on bottom, chicken on top.  Drizzle excess glaze from chicken over tacos as it's sauce, this sauce would be SO good over pork tenderloin.  Next time.  Happy almost weekend my loves!

It's What's For Dinner: Prosciutto & Brie Melt

     The sunset tonight was the best I've seen in forever, I'm talkin ravishing swirls of pink laced into the sky and a magical blue glow over the sea.  Total swoon my dears!  Then I came home and made something madly delicious with crisp green apples, melty brie, salty prosciutto, and sweet caramelized shallots.  It took all of 7 minutes to whip up, impress yourself or someone special with this, recipe as follows:

• French Brie
• Shallots (cooked in butter+sugar)
• Green Apple
• Sourdough
• Prosciutto

    Caramelize Shallots in butter till they're golden brown, add sugar to crystallize.  While thats cooking, slice brie and apples thinly and layout sandwich in toaster.  Once the shallots are done, place them on top of the cheese and let the toaster do the rest.  After the cheese is surly meltalicious, remove the open face sammy and sandwich it.  Cut it in half and pair it with a tasty salad, enjoy!

It's What's For Dinner: Ahi Burger topped with Currant Lemongrass Chutney

Ahi Burger + Crimini Mushrooms + Broc + Pine Nuts + Currant/Lemongrass Chutney + Snow Peas= Yum.

Time to open that lonely box of Somoas and poor myself some Bourbon, happy Thursday ya'll.

It's What's Delicious: Bacon Wrapped Dates Stuffed w/ Goat Cheese

Bacon, it's kinda the most delicious thing ever, it's what turned me after three years of being a vegetarian.  So salty and so sweet, I could totally go for some right about now.  This is an appetizer you bring to parties to make friends and win over in-laws.  The best part?  It's easy breezy and pretty cheesy.  Plan on making two per head just to be safe, cause they taste that good.  Recipe as follows.

All you need is:

• Thick cut Applewood Smoked Bacon
• Goat Cheese
• Medjool Dates(pitted)
• Toothpicks

First prepare your bacon in a frying pan, making sure not to cook it crispy so that you can wrap your dates.  While that's cooking, start slicing pit length down into your Dates removing the pit.  Once you've removed the pits, open the date like a little pita pocket and stuff goat cheese inside.  After the bacon has cooled enough, cut it to fit around the dates and use a toothpick to secure a nice little blanket for your date.  Lastly simply grill the almost ready to eat dates, I use a George Foreman and leave it open so it doesn't squash them.  Once the bacon gets crispy and the goat cheese inside melty, place them on a serving plate and enjoy!

Happy Thursday Darlings....

Mammoth le Magnificent

Weekend trip to some of California's most beautiful sites is what really makes me happy, especially when it's with the right people.  Oh labor day in an oh-so-amazing shmancy Mammoth house, creating delicious eats, drinks, and just down right having a fantastic time!  It is a little hard not roughing it, I mean I was really missing late night star gazing and light up Bocce Ball competitions, and truly earning my beer blanket.  

Devil's Postpile is still radder than I remembered, I mean hot damn this earth is neat with it's geological magic!  I have a soft spot for Rainbow falls and deers frolicking free.  I just wish the creeks and lakes were actually warm enough to take a dip, especially after a sweaty hike. 

I can't wait to go to Death Valley and Yosemite this fall... Cheers to lovely family and friends, and this little ol' thing we call life!

It's What's For Dinner: Honey Chipotle Chicken Tacos & Summer Salad

The self satisfaction of creating in the kitchen, it's been a while since I've whipped up something tasty.  Tacos are ALWAYS a good idea, pairing it with a tasty Hendricks Gin Cucumber cocktail?  Even better!  Look at this brown bear above, she's only ten and she enjoys lying down to eat, what a silly Emma.  

Do yourself a favor and recreate this yummy dins, you'll thank me later.

Honey Chipotle Chicken Tacos

• Chicken Breast 
• Ground Chipotle Spice 
• Honey
• Persian Cucumbers
• Cilantro
• Heirloom Tomatoes 
• Red Onion
• Corn Tortillas 

Heat Olive Oil in pan, add chicken and diced red onion, sprinkle in chipotle spice + honey.  While that's getting all magically delicious, start cutting up the cucumber, tomato, and cilantro.  Prep your corn tortillas over a burner.  Once chicken smells and tastes sweet/spicy, build tacos and serve!

Summer Salad

• Spinach 
• Pine Nuts
• Fresh Raspberries 
• Cranberries
• Syrah Soaked Parmesan (Trader Joes)
• Balsamic of your choice

Put it in a bowl and enjoy, it's that easy!

This weekend is going to be fantastic... Some San Clemente time, Moulin Rouge at the Bowl, and hanging with my very favorite people.

Square One & Birthdays

Oh Monday, you're not lookin too shabby... Friends are lovely, especially when you get to celebrate their birthday!  Mark & Lilan decided to have the same birthdays, pretty cool huh?  They also decided to go to two of my very favorite places, Big Bar and Square One.  The lovely Florence whipped up some spectacular beverages with fresh squeezed this and scotch that, so fresh!  We then made our way to Square One for brunch where we indulged in Bourbon Pecan French Toast, Citrus Banana French Toast, Bacon like you wouldn't believe, and other eggy-weggy dishes.  Oh happy day my dears.

In other news I went to the bowl last night to see Neko Case and The National, it was amazing.  Neko reallllly knows how to pull at my heart strings, cause there were points in the show where I was teary eyed and blissed out.  Sheer passion and the way here voice carried through the Hollywood Hills?  Breathtaking.  Then Matt Berninger made me wanna stay out super late and put a little somethin in my lemonade in this here Fake Empire.

Time to enjoy my day off, have a marvelous Monday folks!

Beachwood BBQ Brewery

  

Beachwood BBQ has at last opened their second location, this one actually brews their owns beers!  The menu is practically the same as the Seal Beach location and has a few new items to excite the foodies.  We ordered Lena's deep fried pickles, Tater Tot Casserole(with porcini mushrooms+cheesecurds+duck gravy+fried in duck fat), Beef Brisket on Pretzel Roll, and the Fried Green Tomatoes.  The Tater Tots were just too delicious and everything else was spectacular as usual.  Be sure to order their pulled pork when you go, it's perfection at best.  

Their beer list never disappoints with it's unique not-so-common skies, we had the Dechutes Conflux #2 White IPA, Port Boneyard Barleywine, Westoek Strong Belgian, and Flying Dog Barrel-aged Gonzo Porter.  The great thing about Beachwood? They let you order half pints!  Meaning you, the beer lover/conducer get to experience beers to your choosing.  

You'll also notice an extremely cute and charming baby boy above, Wallace.  My nephew is so cute, I love hanging out with him, my brother, and the beautiful Erika! 

Hope you all are having a fantastic week!