Shrimp and Grits

You would think that since I can bake, I could cook. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely positive that's the case. At least that's what my boyfriend has led me to think (by my own conclusions of course). He cooks, I bake. Period. The End.

So this year, for Valentine's I told him I was going to cook our dinner. I have only cooked us dinner 2 times in the almost 2 years we've been dating. I settled on Shrimp and Grits. Good thing I did since he said it was perfect! Maybe I got some motivation to do an extra good job from the flowers that were waiting for me when I got home. *Cue typical Valentine's facebook picture of flowers and chocolate* At least I saved it for my blog.

Shrimp and Grits
Yield ~3 servings, originally planned for 2 but was more than enough

9 tbs instant grits (I know, a true Southerner only uses real grits. I'm only Southern by blood, not birthplace)
2 1/4 cup water plus 2 tbs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of garlic powder
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tbs butter
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs white wine
Pinch of Old Bay seasoning
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbs cut fresh parsley

Bring 2 1/4 cups of water to a boil. Next mix in the grits with a dash of garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and stir frequently until thick, which will only take a few min. Once thickened, mix in the parmesan and 1/2 tbs butter.

Next, season the shrimp with Old Bay seasoning, salt, and pepper. Melt the last tbs of butter in a skillet. Add the shrimp, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes. Mix this around until the shrimp turn pink which should take around 5 min. Remove shrimp from little butter sauce and place in a bowl for time being. Add in 2 tbs of white wine and 2 tbs of water, the lemon juice and parsley to butter sauce. Place back on heat and simmer for another few minutes to reduce. Place shrimp back in to coat in the sauce. Fill bowls with grits and pour some shrimp and a bit of the sauce on top. Bon Appetit!

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Red Velvet Cookie Dough Truffles

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you are all having a great start so far to your day. Mine is starting with these! They're kind of addicting. Last week I was trying to think what I wanted to make for Valentine's Day and I felt like I really wanted to do something with red velvet. I started thinking hard and decided on red velvet cookie dough truffles. I had heard of chocolate chip cookie dough truffles so I figured this could work and oh man, did it. 

On Sunday morning I woke up and went to the gym. When I came back this was sitting on the counter for me, along with a boyfriend making me brunch. I wasn't complaining, although it did make for an interesting "baking" session which resulted in a much messier kitchen than normal and me eating more of my truffles than I had really planned on.

Red Velvet Cookie Dough Truffles

Yield ~34 truffles

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup water
6 tbs powdered buttermilk
2 tbs cocoa powder (may want to do 1-1 1/2 if you want it to be more red)
1 tbs vanilla
1 tsp red food coloring

chocolate candy melts/wafers

Melt butter, then mix it with brown sugar, sugar, oil, water, and vanilla. Next mix in the powdered buttermilk (this gives the red velvet flavor), cocoa powder, and flour. Last add in the red food coloring. You can add more or less depending on the red color you want. Roll the dough into balls that are about 1.5 inches in diameter and place them on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Place in the freezer for about an hour.

Melt chocolate candy wafers in a double boiler or just place a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water. Stir around until wafers are completely melted. Stick a toothpick in a ball of dough and then swirl it around in the melted chocolate, then place it back on the wax paper. Repeat until you've covered all your cookie dough balls. If you would like to add anything to the top of your truffles (coconut or anything else) do it as soon as you take them off the toothpick since the chocolate will harden quickly.

Lastly, since no Valentine's is complete without a little heart action this awesome picture is being brought to you by NOAA. Even the earth loves you.
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Choco Coco Cup Brownies

 

Last Thursday my sister was feeling a little down. I told her she could come over and I could bake her something if that would help. She was there 20 minutes later. She said she didn't really care what I made she just wanted the bowl. I only had about an hour so I decided to go with brownies but I didn't want a big pan of them. I thought brownie cups might be a little better. Also, I thought they might be a little better with chocolate chips and some toasted coconut. So I started putting everything together but when it came time to add in the egg, I realized I had no eggs and only egg whites so I had to improvise. Here's what I came up with.

Choco Coco Cup Brownies

Yield 9 Brownie Cups

1 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tbs butter

2 tbs cocoa powder

1/2 cup chocolate fudge (I used Smucker's)

5 tbs egg whites (~2 regular eggs)

1 tsp vanilla

chocolate chips

shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter, sugar, and brown sugar together. Add in chocolate fudge and vanilla and mix. Next mix in the eggs. Last mix in the flour and cocoa powder. Spray cupcake pan and fill each up 2/3 of the way. Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top (I did around 10 for each one), then sprinkle some coconut on top of that. Bake for ~20 minutes and check to see if done. They may need a couple more minutes after that but it will depend on your oven.

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for my recipe for these little babies! I made them to bring to work for Valentine's Day but I'm just hoping they last until tomorrow. I may have already eaten 7. Oops...

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The Cupcake Killer

So I go downstairs to the parking garage at work today to pay the parking meter. When I come back upstairs I sit back down at my desk and take off my flats to get in my comfy stance aka sitting indian style in my chair with my blanket on. (it's possible they keep the temperature set to 62 degrees in here)

After about 30 seconds my friend comes over and says, " Come here, you have to see this!" I say, "Do I have to put my shoes back on for it?" She reluctantly says yes... we start walking and I ask in excitement of a potential early morning dessert "Is it food?!" She says, "Well, sorta."

This is what she shows me...
on our community board...
AT WORK!
Poor twinkie

Makes me wonder if this a passive aggressive lash out towards me? I do tend to bring in lots of sweets... and extras for said "friend". Hmmmm....

S'more Cookies

 Any time I go to a party I can't go without making a dessert. It's like a tick I have and can't get rid of. This weekend for the Super Bowl was no exception. When I was thinking about what to bring Sunday I started thinking about this past Friday night. I went out that night to a friend's house for a bit and came back and had the bright idea at midnight to bake (of course). I ended up throwing a bunch of random ingredients together, one of which included marshmallows...

Needless to say, when I woke up in the morning I thought to myself "what was I thinking?" Then I thought MARSHMALLOWS! I could totally turn this into something like a s'more! So I decided to start with a chocolate cookie base, add in some chocolate chips and marshmallows, then roll it in some crushed up graham crackers. With that being said, here's the recipe!





S'more Cookies
Yield ~24 cookies

Ingredients: 

1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
2 tbs cocoa powder
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup marshmallows
4 oz crushed up graham crackers

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Add in the egg and vanilla extract. Next add in the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Once everything is mixed together fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Take 2-3 tablespoon scoops of dough and roll them in crushed graham crackers. Place each ball of dough on baking sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Keep a close eye on them though so that they don't burn. It can happen pretty quickly cause of the graham crackers. If you like your s'mores with slightly burnt marshmallows though this might be a tastier option for you.

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Gone to New Orleans

This past weekend I went to New Orleans with 3 of my girlfriends. That city is awesome. I say you have to go there sometime in your life, at least once. I went twice within one year. Also, if you go, leave the French Quarter just for a little bit. I know you will want to just get a drink and walk down Bourbon Street. Honestly who doesn't feel cooler walking the streets with a DRINK in hand? But just do it, please.

Of all the places to go to outside of the French Quarter there were two that were the best. First off, we walked to Frenchmen St. within the first couple hours of being there and it was the best idea ever. There were so many neat little shops and bars and music clubs. It's definitely the hipster hide out that slowly people are finding out about. We found the coolest antique costume shop. While we were there my friend found a Mardi Gras Ball Queen's dress. We obviously tried it on, sadly we didn't get it though. Instead I got a necklace with a little Flava Flav action going on. I can now tell the time by looking at my necklace.

 

Next up, Saint Louis Cemetary Number 1. Granted, if you do your research you know all about Marie Laveau's tomb being here. At first the excitement of seeing that gets you all hyped up. Trust me, Queen of Voodoo granting you a wish? You don't need that. Nicholas Cage's future tomb pyramid is what you need in life. Yes, he already has his tomb erected in the form of a pyramid with "everything from one" inscribed in Latin on it. Nicholas Cage would do this. Exhibit A:

Since we all know how much I love food and neat places in general I'm going to share some top places you should probably most likely go for food and/or drinks.

 Food:   

Johnny's Po Boy's- They have been around since 1950 and are hands down the place to go for po-boys.

             Cafe Du Monde- Everyone knows you have to go here to try a beignet, the end. (They taste even better at 2:30 AM) The alligators don't come with the beignets by the way, you can pick one of them up in a drink at Tropical Isle. They just wanted to join in for the picture.   

    

Yo Mama's Bar and Grill- When you think of New Orleans cuisine, you probably don't think of hamburgers. This place has some HUGE rockin' hamburgers though. The peanut butter and bacon burger was great. Once you get here you definitely need to take notice of the decor too, it's quite interesting in an inappropriate way.

Drinks: 

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop- "Oldest Bar in America", Best Hurricane in New Orleans and if you like grape get the Voodoo Daquiri, my personal fav. The whole place is lit by candle light which adds to the whole atmosphere even more.

Well that's all the New Orleans traveling advice I have to share. If you do your research it's very easy to tailor your touring to exactly what you want. Walking around to random places is one of the best ways. So, I'll just leave you with some pictures I took of the French Quarter and surrounding area.