{Recipe} Sparkle White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

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I have become a big fan of citrus, specifically lemon, in my desserts as of late.  Maybe it started when we were on our honeymoon in Italy … the lemon gelto, limoncello and other lemon stuff was to die for.  Around the holiday season I found this recipe on How Sweet It Is and immediately put in on my must make list. White chocolate plus lemon = YUM!

Even the husband who isn’t a huge fan of chocolate in general, thought the lemon truffles came out great and is looking forward to me making them again.  Just a thought, but if you are making a fancy dinner for Valentine’s Day and looking for a special dessert, I do believe your search is over!!!

Ingredients:

10 ounces white chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon corn syrup
2 drops lemon extract
the zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
white sanding sugar for coating

Recipe slightly changed from How Sweet it Is to include more lemon!

Directions:

Place the white chocolate and butter to a bowl, then microwave on medium power for 30 seconds. Stir a few times, then microwave for 20 more seconds.

Add heavy cream and corn syrup to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat just until bubbles appear on the edges.  Immediately pour the cream over the melted chocolate and butter, stir for a few minutes until combined.  Add in the lemon extract and lemon zest, mixing to combine. Place in the fridge for 2 hours.

Remove from fridge and scoop out teaspoon-size balls of chocolate with a melon scoop or teaspoon and roll into balls.  You should have enough for about 30 truffles.

Then roll them in the sanding sugar and coat completely. Put them back in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  They will get a little bit soft when you create the balls so putting them back in the refrigerator helps.  Then serve and enjoy!

These little truffles are SUPER decedent and D-E-LISIOUS.

Happy Cooking!!

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Tasty Tuesday – The Perfect Roast Chicken

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I have a little bit of an obsession with Food Network.  If there isn’t a show recorded on DVR that I want to watch, Food Network is my next go-to channel, followed by HGTV.  Food and home improvement … you can clearly see where my passions lie.  One day while blogging and watching Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten was cooking her “Perfect Roast Chicken“.  I quickly made a mental note that I must make this dish.  An opportunity quickly presented itself and I adapted the recipe just a little.  This dish is well … absolutely DELISH!!!

Not only is this recipe super yummy, but totally falls within the healthy cooking/eating category.  WIN WIN!!!  And just to add one more log to this amazing fire (yeah I’m horrible with analogies, but I try!) it is also a pretty cheap dinner menu item that will impress!!  So I hope you enjoy the Tasty Tuesday recipe this week.

Ingredients:

1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme (and/or rosemary)
1 lemon, quartered
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted (can be substituted with olive oil)
2 large yellow onions, thickly sliced
4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
4 Yukon Gold Potatoes cut into quarters

When you get the chicken home remove the chicken giblets and pat the outside dry, salt it inside and out, wrap it and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Preheat the over to 425*.  Place the onions, carrots, potatoes and some thyme in a roasting pan.

Pat the chicken dry and liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, lemon, and all the garlic.

Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper.

Tie the legs together with kitchen string.  Place the chicken on top and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken cover with aluminum foil for about 15 minutes.  I suggest putting this in a bowl, because the juices will seep out of the chicken as it rests.  I did this on a cutting board the first time and literally juice all over the floor and my dog, Sophi, was seriously pleased about this!!!

Allow the vegetable to continue cooking.  Slice the chicken and place it on a platter with the vegetables.  I like to pour some of the juices over the chicken/veggies.  The rest of the juice/gravy put in a gravy boat … I promise your guests will appreciate it!  This serves about 4 people.

Happy Cooking!

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Recipe: Garlic Chicken with Couscous

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I really like watching the Food Network cooking shows.  One of the chefs I really like is Anne Burrell.  She make some great recipes, but also I just love her level on energy on the show.  In any event, a while a go I watched the show where she makes garlic chicken with Israeli couscous.  Last night I was craving Israeli couscous so I looked up Chef Burrell’s recipe for inspiration.  Israeli couscous is more fluffy and pasta like than “regular” couscous.  If you’ve never had it before it’s definitely worth a try.

After figuring out what I had in the house I decided to make a simpler version of the recipe while trying to get the same type of flavors in my chicken breasts.  I am happy with how it came out and will be adding this recipe to the dinner rotation.

Garlic Chicken Ingredients:

~ 1 lb Chicken Breasts
1 whole garlic bulb
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp ground cumin seeds
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the garlic bulb straight on the oven rack and roast it is soft when squeezed, about 30 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let cool.

While garlic is roasting, prep the chicken by removing any fat and cutting into large chunks (about 6).

In a bowl combine the lemon zest, juice, thyme, cumin, red pepper flakes and salt then set aside.

When the garlic bulbs are cool, slice the tops off.

Squeeze out the roasted garlic into the bowl.  Add a little olive oil and mash the mixture into a loose paste. Combine with the chicken pieces and let sit for at least 1 hour.

Once the chicken has marinated grill, bake or stove top cook it.

Couscous Ingredients: 

1 cup of Israeli Couscous
1 and 1/4 cups of Chicken Broth
2 Scallions/Green Onions

Bring a chicken broth to a boil over.  Add the couscous, reduce to a simmer and cover for about 8-10 minutes.  watch the couscous closely as sometimes the water boils out too quickly.  You can also completely shut the heat off and cover it.

Cut all of the green onion into thin slices.  Once the couscous is cooked mix in the green onions.

I like to serve it in shallow bowl. Add the couscous/onion mixture and then place the cooked chicken on top.  This recipe makes 3-4 servings.

Looks so pretty and it’s yummy too!

Happy Cooking!

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Recipe: Spicy Meatballs

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So remember when I made the tortilla soup?  I mentioned how I loved that recipe as well as the meatball recipe from the 4 Hour Body diet.  I’ve never been a big sausage person, however for some reason I LOVE it in this meatball recipe. If you wanted to make this slightly more healthy you could substitute in ground turkey and turkey sausage.

I’ve made this recipe a number of time with a couple different variations.  The latest version include a whole bag of spinach. I think it makes the meatballs look more appetizing as well as putting your vegetable serving right into the meatball!  I wish I could take credit for this idea, but it was my friend’s idea.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1 lb spicy (or sweet) Italian sausage
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
½ small yellow onion, roughly chopped
½ cup almond meal (or bread crumbs or wheat germ)
2 eggs, whisked
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Black pepper and salt to taste
1 package chopped spinach (cooked)

Cook the frozen chopped spinach per the directions on the bag.  Meanwhile combine all the other ingredients in a glass bowl and mix together.  Don’t forget to remove the Italian sausage from its casing.

Once the spinach is done cooking allow it to cook and then squeeze as much of the water as possible out of the spinach.  You don’t want soggy meatballs!  Mix in the spinach.  It’s best to do it with your hands (gross I know!).

Create ~24 medium size meatballs.

Recipe Spicy Meatballs, 4 Hour Body / Slow Carb Diet | Life's Tidbits

Pre-heat your grill pan (these can also be cooked in the oven if you prefer).  Once hot, add the meatballs. Fry 5–7 minutes, until bottom is browned.

Recipe Spicy Meatballs, 4 Hour Body / Slow Carb Diet | Life's Tidbits

Turn meatballs to opposite side and cook for another 5–7 minutes. It will take several batches to cook all 24 meatballs.

If on the 4 hour body diet serve it with lentils or black beans.  If not, then your pantry is your oyster.  These will taste great with almost any side!

Recipe Spicy Meatballs, 4 Hour Body / Slow Carb Diet | Life's Tidbits

About three meatballs is a serving. And boy does this meal make a fabulous lunch.

Happy cooking!

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Recipe: Turkey Chili

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Brrrrr it’s cold out there and today was the first snow fall of the year!!!

Cold weather = chili night at our house and to be specific turkey chili!  My husband swears he’s going to be made of turkey, because of how many turkey based meals I make. LOL. He cracks me up.

Now I’m not saying by any means that I don’t like beef, but in things like chili using turkey or beef doesn’t make a difference to me.  Turkey is lower in fat so I often use it instead of beef.  You can totally use beef if that’s your preference with this recipe.  Either way it will taste great … in my humble opinion. :)

**This recipe was updated on November 4, 2014**

Ingredients:

1.25 pounds ground turkey
1 can chili beans in medium spicy sauce (not drained)
1 can dark red kidney beans (drained)
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 can tomato paste
1 large onion (chopped)
1 red bell peppers (seeded  &  chopped)
⅓ jalapeno pepper (seeded & minced – use less if you don’t like things spicy)
4-6 cloves or 1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
½ cup beer (or substitute in water)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoons hot sauce
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less to taste)
½ teaspoon paprika

Chop the red pepper and drop it into a big enough pot to hold all of chili.   I like to add a little vegetable oil to make the veges soften quicker.  Then chop your jalapeno, garlic and onion and drop those in as well.  Saute until they are tender.

In a pan over medium-high heat ground turkey.  Break into small pieces and cook until browned. Drain off any excess fat.

Once the vegetables are cooked add the turkey (or beef) to the big pot.  Next, add in Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and beer (I usually use water and to me it tastes the same).  Then add chili beans (with the sauce), kidney beans, fire roasted tomatoes and tomato paste.

Season with chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and paprika. Mix well. Cover and simmer for 1/2 hour stirring occasionally.

Makes 6 servings.  If you have left overs it makes for a fabulous lunch the next day or later in the week!

I served it with homemade corn bread and it was YUMMY!

Happy Eating!

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