Kit Kat Cheesecake Brownies

This month’s Alphabakes (hosted by The More Than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes) is the letter K. I had this recipe bookmarked and decided it’d be a perfect thing to make for the month. This recipe is truly the best of all the worlds – brownies, candy, and cheesecake. Oh my.

Matt ended up taking the whole batch of them to his class’s potluck. They all got eaten, so I guess this is a good sign!

Kit Kat Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients

BROWNIES
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 oz semisweet baking chocolate
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup flour
20 fun size Kit Kat bars

CHEESECAKE
16 oz cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease an 8×8 baking dish very generously.

2. Start with the brownies. In a medium saucepan, melt together the butter and chocolate until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the sugar and salt. You will have a granulated mixture. Quickly whisk in an egg. Last stir in the flour until you have a thick batter. Pour this batter into the baking dish.

3. On top of the brownie mixture layer with the Kit Kat bars.

4. Next you need to make the cheesecake. Beat together the cream cheese and the sugar until smooth. Next beat in the eggs, one at a time. Last beat in the lemon juice and vanilla. Spread the cheesecake mixture over the brownies and Kit Kats, smoothing the top.

5. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

6. Let cool to room temperature. Then place in a refrigerator over night.

* makes 30 small brownies

* Besides Alphabakes, this dish is shared with Mix It Up Monday & Mealtime Monday

Spiced Mango Chocolate Chip Muffins

Like I said last month, for some reason, recently all these We Should Cocoa themes keep bringing me back to muffins. I went from Nigella’s chocolate chocolate muffins, to honey banana chocolate chip muffins, and now to these mango muffins. Now.. I could have made it a quick bread instead and made it into a loaf, but part of me wanted to stay in this muffin groove because I love muffins.

The downfall with muffins is I have a hard time just eating one and yesterday I ate far too many muffins for one human being. I had one for breakfast this morning too. The mango/chocolate combination is perfect.

This month’s We Should Cocoa is hosted by Allotment 2 Kitchen. You should join!
For those who don’t know, We Should Cocoa comes from the love and support of Chocolate Log Blog and Chocolate Teapot.

Speaking of mangoes, my brother has requested for his birthday that I make him a mango cake. I have several recipes pulled. Besides the “mango cake” he didn’t give any other suggestions on flavors or type of cake, so that’s free reign for me. Does anyone reading this have some ideas for recipes that might work? So far I have:

Tres Leches Cake with Mango Whipped Cream
Chunky Fresh Mango Cake
Mango Cream Cake

Any other ones you suggest I look at?

Spiced Mango Chocolate Chip Muffins
(source)

Ingredients
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups mango, chopped
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, and applesauce.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, sugar, brown sugar, and baking powder.

3. Once mixed together, pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture. Stir together to get rid of any dry clumps. Once well mixed, fold in the mango and the chocolate chips.

4. Spoon into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove from tin and place on a wire rack until completely cooled.

* makes a dozen muffins
* Besides We Should Cocoa, this dish is being shared with Wednesday Whatsits & Cast Party Wednesday

Three Cup Chicken

 

This week’s kitchen traveling adventure took me to Taiwan. If you love Chinese food, you will love Taiwanese food. Essentially the difference is that Taiwanese food adds some local Taiwanese flair using local ingredients.

In my International Law class last semester we actually talked quite a bit about Taiwan. Though I’m considering Taiwan its own country for purposes of my food travels, Taiwan actually is not considered a sovereign nation in international matters and instead is considered part of the People’s Republic of China (Taiwan is formally known as the Republic of China.) I’m sure the reason for the similar foods is due to these cultural identities and the international view of Taiwan’s and China’s relationship.

Now that I’ve given you a mini-lesson the big of the day is: I’m done with law school!!! Well, that’s hoping I passed everything.. But done for now!

And in other other news, I forgot to photograph this dish after the basil was added as garnish.

Three Cup Chicken
(source)

Ingredients
4 chicken drumsticks, skinned with the meat cut off and cut into chunks
3 slices ginger, peeled
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp white wine
Thai basil, chopped
1/2 tbsp baking soda

Directions

1. Sprinkle the chicken with the baking soda. Set aside for 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes has passed, wash the baking soda off the chicken, making sure to get it all off.

2. In a skillet (I used my cast iron) heat the sesame oil. Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry until fragrant. Add in the chicken and stir around a few times. Add the soy sauce and white wine and continue to stir-fry. Cover the chicken and on low bring the liquid to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the basil and stir into the chicken. Serve over rice.

* serves 2
* shared with Tasteful Tuesday & Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Taco Salad

 

I’m part of the website swap-bot. I participate in a lot of recipe swaps. Recently one of the swaps I participated in was called Send Me Some New Recipes. The swap required that you mail an envelope with at least 25 recipes in it, taken from anywhere. I sent recipes to my partners cut from magazines, handwritten from my personal collection, and printed from blogs online. One of the envelopes I received was a ton (25) recipes written on neon index cards. I added these to my recipe box collection, which has become significantly fuller since I started swap-bot.

This recipe was written on a neon green index card. This was a super easy recipe and was very delicious.

Taco Salad

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp Penzey’s Bold Taco spice
3/4 cup water
10 cups romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup onion, chopped
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup salad dressing of choice
1/2 cup tortilla chips, crushed
sour cream, optional (also, guacamole could work!)

Directions

1. In a large skillet cook the ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain. Stir in the taco spice and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, cooking for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl combine the lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and cheese. Stir in the ground beef. Drizzle with the salad dressing and toss to coat. Sprinkle with the crushed chips. Serve with option sour cream or guacamole (or both!) on top.

* serves 5
* shared with Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, & #Foodie Friday

Braised Short Ribs In Tomatillo Sauce

 

The next country in my around-the-world adventure was Mexico. Though I make Mexican food frequently, I decided to search online for authentic Mexican recipes. My searching led me to Receta de Costillas de Res en Salsa Verde, or.. Braised Short Ribs In Tomatillo Sauce. Actually though, the literal translation is Beef Ribs Recipe for Green Salsa.

Anyway – I made the ribs and served it over tortilla chips. I don’t use tomatillos nearly as often as I should and every time I do, I’m always excited at how neat they are. If you’ve never had the opportunity to cook with tomatillos before, you should make yourself the opportunity now! And cook these ribs!

Braised Short Ribs in Tomatillo Sauce
(source)

Ingredients
2 lbs beef short ribs
1 1/2 lbs tomatillos, peeled
2 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno pepper
1 cup cilantro, chopped
salt, to taste
ground pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the short ribs to the pot and brown on each side.  Add 1/2 cup of water and cover the pot with a lid. Cook on medium heat for 1 1/2 hours.

2. While the meat is cooking place a griddle over medium-high heat. Roast the tomatillos, garlic, and jalapeno until charred.

3 . Once the meat is cooked, add the tomatillos, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, and some salt and pepper into the bowl of a food processor. Remove 1/2 cup of the meat juice from the cooked ribs and add the juice to the food processor. Process everything in the food processor, until well combined and a sauce is formed.

4. Remove the ribs from the pot. Add the tomatillo salsa to the pan and cook for three minutes.

5. With two forks, remove the beef from the ribs, shredding it into pieces. Add the meat back into the pot with the salsa and cook for 3 more minutes.

* serves 6
* Shared with Full Plate Thursday, Showcase Your Talent Thursday, & Catch A Glimpse Party

Spicy Asian Hamburger

Final number one is out of the way. I have three finals and a paper until I’ll no longer be a law student, but will start studying for the bar exam instead. I guess that’s still sort of a law student though, isn’t it? I probably should be studying for my exam for tomorrow, but I feel sort of brain dead after the one I had today.

On Sunday of this week I made this delicious hamburger. Infused with Asian flavors, this made such a great meal. And instead of serving it just with french fries, I roasted some asparagus as well and tossed the french fries and the asparagus in Argyle Street Asian Blend, which I had received from a Foodie Pen Pals some months back. And instead of ketchup for the fries, I mixed up some sriacha, mayonnaise,  and ketchup which also was the spread on the burger. Both the fries and the asparagus tasted good with the dip.

All in all, this was a very satisfying meal!

Spicy Asian Hamburger
(source)

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 large egg
1 tbsp vegetable oil
all-purpose flour (for dusting)
4 hamburger buns
2 green onions, roughly chopped
1 tomato, sliced
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp sriacha

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine the ground beef, garlic, ginger, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, breadcrumbs, and egg. Mix together with your hands. Shape the mixture into four patties and dust with flour.

2. In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, add the vegetable oil. Once hot add the patties. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side.

3. In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, and sriacha.

4. Toast the buns. Spread each bun with some of the sriacha spread. Place a burger on each bun and top with tomato. Cover with other half of the bun.

* serves 4
* Shared with Kahakai Kitchen’s Souper Sundays, Wednesday Whatsits, Cast Party Wednesday, & The Busy Bees

Foodie Pen Pals: April

This month my FPP buddy was a lovely lady named Haley. Haley is from Arizona and sent me a very heavy box of local foods. She also included a recipe, which I made (and will share in this post!) I loved getting a recipe (hint hint hint, next FPP: send me recipes!) At this point, if you haven’t heard about Foodie Pen Pals, you’re probably wondering what on earth I’m talking about.

• On the 5th of the month you receive an email pairing you with information about who you’re paired with. You email that person to get information pertaining to allergies and dietary restriction.
• By the 15th you put together a box of treats and mail them to your partner.
• On the last day of the month you post a blog post about your box of treat

Easy, yeah?

 

Like I said, this was a heavy box of food! I was actually surprised when I picked it up to carry it in the house. This is by far the heaviest package I’ve received. I was so excited to dig in and see what was in there. And needless to say, I was not disappointed!

 

First things first, chili mango. This is something I never have had and I was hesitant to try it. While the idea of sweet and spicy seems so great, I took the first bite like a little bird. I’m still not really sure what I think about this. It’s probably not something I’d buy again, but at the same time it was good and a lot of fun to get to try something new.

 

Haley included this strawberry jelly on the request of her child. I ate it in one swift swoop. I used to get these as a kid, so it was a nice journey back.

 

I haven’t tried this cactus jelly yet. But the color of it is beautiful! I haven’t taken the time to look up recipes I could use this with, so I should do that.

 

Haley also included this Mango Jalapeno Jelly, along with a recipe for a grilled cheese using this jelly. I haven’t made the sandwich yet, but I do intend to soon!

 

Next were these little hot sauces. They are so cute – I love miniatures! I haven’t cracked open any of them yet though – I think the Hot Sauce from Hell will be first.

 

This was Matt’s choice from the box to steal from me (it seems with every FPP box, he has to grab something and claim it for his own.) This jerky is made different from the traditional beef jerky. First you cook the meat and then you dehydrate it.

 

Next (and the heaviest thing in the box) was the Nopalitos, or tender cactus. I haven’t tried this yet either. Ideas on how to use it?

 

These cans of hominy and green chile peppers provided the base for a delicious dinner, which Haley provided me the recipe. She had sent me an email and asked if I used my slow cooker; do I ever! I made the crcokpot pozole before class one day and it provided a great  meal for several days. The first day I just had a bowl of it. The next two days I used it over french fries, sort of similar to chili cheese fries, but pozole cheese fries instead. I’d had hominy before, but I’ve never actually used it myself. It was a super easy recipe with a lot of flavor!

 

Crockpot Pozole

Ingredients
1 tbsp canola oil
2 lb boneless pork loin, cubed
2 14.5 oz cans red enchilada sauce
1 30 oz can hominy
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 can diced green chilies, drained
2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. Add meat and cook, browning the sides.

2. Place the meat in a crock pot. Cover with enchilada sauce. Top with hominy, onions, chilies, garlic, cayenne, and oregano. Add the water.

3. Cook on high for 6-7 hours. Add salt and cilantro and cook on low for 30 more minutes.

(serve with lime wedges, shredded cheese,s our cream, green onions, and flour tortillas)

* serves about 8
* sharing this recipe with Tempt My Tummy

Spicy Roasted Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese

 

This month’s Pasta Please theme was chilies and was hosted by Shaheen.

I’m looking at the picture of this dish, and I’m realizing there is way too many breadcrumbs on the dish. Once scooped out of the dish, they obviously got lost in the noodles – but oh my goodness – this picture looks like a breadcrumb dish.

Anyway, after poking around different corners of the internet and looking for something that would work for this challenge, I found a delicious looking mac and cheese. I didn’t venture out as much as I could have with this challenge. I should have bought a red chili to substitute the crushed red chili flakes – but alas, I did not. I like spicy food. I just really hate cutting chilies. Without a doubt, for as careful as I try to be, I touch my eyes or rub my nose or get the chili juices somewhere that just doesn’t feel great – and oh my goodness, it’s hard to get rid of it once you do it. Even when I wear gloves, I somehow manage to just create so much pain for myself. I love the taste, I just hate the process.

Because of this, I rely on red chili flakes to add the heat from a fresh chili (though.. obviously not the same, I know.)

Anyway, this was a yummy mac and cheese. It created a lot of dirty dishes, but was delicious!

Spicy Roasted Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese
(source)

Ingredients
1 cup broccoli florets, cut into pieces
1 yellow squash, diced
1 orange bellow pepper, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 cups elbow pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups skim milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried chili flakes
2 tbsp bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Set a medium pot of water to boil. Cook the noodles per package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil covering it. Toss the broccoli, squash, bell pepper, and carrots on a baking sheet. Coat with half the olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes.

3. Heat the remaining oil in a skillet. Once hot, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk, stirring until the mixture thickens.  Remove from heat. Stir in cheddar, allowing to melt. Add the red chili flakes and cayenne. Add the macaroni and vegetables.

4. Place the mixture in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place under the broiler for 4 minutes.

* serves 6
* Besides Pasta Please, this recipe is being shared with See Ya In The Gumbo

Chocolate Banana Honey Muffins

I seem to associate We Should Cocoa with muffins or something. Last month I made Nigella’s chocolate muffins. This month the theme for this chocolate challenge is honey. The challenge was to make a chocolate recipe using honey somehow.

These muffins are yummy. They are very banana-centric. I like having the honey be the sugar substitute. When I ate the muffin I could hardly tell there was no sugar added to them (well.. except for the sugar in my chocolate chips at least.)

Now my only question is will I make a muffin for We Should Cocoa again next month?

Chocolate Banana Honey Muffins
(source)

Ingredients
3 bananas, mashed
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp skim milk
1 egg
1 egg white
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325. In a large bowl mix together the banana, honey, yogurt, and vanilla. Once well mixed add in the milk, egg, and egg white and mix well.

2. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Place cupcake liners into a cupcake tin. Scoop the batter evenly into the cupcake tins. Bake for 20 minutes.

* makes 12 muffins
* besides We Should Cocoa, this recipe is shared with Mix It Up Monday & Mealtime Monday

Yakisoba

 

This month Chris asked us bloggers to join him on a trip to Japan. I sometimes wish Chris’s travels with us were real. My brother’s been to Japan three times. I’m sure if he ate my dinner he would have turned his nose up and claimed it not to be Japanese enough. I’m not claiming it’s super authentic either. I had to make several substitutions that probably minimized it’s Japanese value because I couldn’t justify buying sake (rice wine) or mirin (a sweeter rice wine) for cooking this dish. I had some sake and had to toss it because it was way too old. I just can’t justify buying ingredients I don’t use frequently. So I used white wine instead.

I probably should have just taken a picture of the Japanese curry and the tonksatsu that we had for lunch at the Japanese restaurant.

Yakisoba
(the more authentic recipe)

Ingredients
6 oz dried chow mein noodles
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 oz pork chop, cut into small chunks
2 oz cabbage, shredded
2 oz carrot, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp white wine
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp sesame oil

Directions

1. Cook the noodles per package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat a large skillet or wok and add the oil. Add the garlic and stir, cooking until brown. Add the pork and stir a few times.  Next add the cabbage, carrots, and onions. Stir a few more times. Add the noodles and the remaining ingredients. Stir fry until the vegetables are cooked and the noodles are warmed through.

* serves 2
* Besides Bloggers Around The World, I’m sharing this dish with Foodie Friends Friday, Foodie Friday, Weekend Potluck, & Foodie Friday