Fruit Tarts!

I made some awesome fruit tarts today at work. Here's the evidence:)

Elairs!

Okay I will be the first to admit I am not in love with elairs. In fact I didn't even really like eclairs until a few weeks ago when my dear brother decided we NEEDED to make some. So we did. And what did we get? Something pretty darn tasty. So good in fact I ended up making some more of my own for a book club a few days after. The recipe is really great. Just remember that when you are mixing the eggs in and it looks wrong and is having a hard time getting the two together that you're doing it right and not to stress..like I might have. Happy baking!




Ingredients

* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 cup water
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 4 eggs
* 1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
* 2 1/2 cups cold milk
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3 tablespoons hot water


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, stirring until butter melts completely. Reduce heat to low, and add flour and salt. Stir vigorously until mixture leaves the sides of the pan and begins to form a stiff ball. Remove from heat. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to incorporate completely after each addition. With a spoon or a pastry bag fitted with a No. 10, or larger, tip, spoon or pipe dough onto cookie sheet in 1 1/2 x 4 inch strips.
3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and bake 20 minutes more, until hollow sounding when lightly tapped on the bottom. Cool completely on a wire rack.
4. For the filling, combine pudding mix and milk in medium bowl according to package directions. In a separate bowl, beat the cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Fold whipped cream into pudding. Cut tops off of cooled pastry shells with a sharp knife. Fill shells with pudding mixture and replace tops.
5. For the icing, melt the chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in 1 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in hot water, one tablespoon at a time, until icing is smooth and has reached desired consistency. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and drizzle over filled eclairs. Refrigerate until serving.

More Cake = More Awesome

So Warren just told me the other day my cake kinda looks like Dr Seuss. But I like this one :) It's vanilla cake with a milk chocolate ganash. Around the bottom is white and dark chocolate chunks. And oh was the cake yummy! Super moist and good. Sorry guys a I can't share this recipe with you:)

Cake = Awesome!

Hey guys! Yesterday my friends who work at Amano Chocolate threw a huge chocolate party and I brought some cake (of course). I was just so proud of it and wanted to make sure you could all see how awesome it turned out looking. Enjoy!

Oh my gosh! Chocolate Strawberries!

Okay so one of my jobs at The Chocolate is to do the chocolate dipped strawberries. Have you ever wanted to eat a billion of them more than you do now after looking at these iPhone pics I took? Yeah me too :)

CHOCOLATE!

Hey everyone! Amazing new! A few weeks ago I got hired at The Chocolate a dessert Cafe in Orem Utah. It is pretty awesome and I'm so excited to be working there! I am a assistant baker and work my butt off baking, baking and baking. We are most know for our cakes. Ange the owner had given them so really funny names from The Husband to The Brooklyn Blackout and they all have a story behind them. It's a really cute and and really fun to go to. I'll be telling you more about different items that they have at The Chocolate and what they consist of in future blogs. But for this food item of choice (and favorite one) is there Kazookie. It is cookie dough cooked and a pan until just the outside is cooked and the inside is still gooey served À la carte. You can come in and visit me too:) I work most days from about 7 am to 3 pm. Let me know if you ever want to stop by and I'll go with you or see you there! Check out The Chocolate on facebook. Hope to see you guys there!

Tomato Pesto with Noodles and Rolls

Hey guys! This is one of my favorite recipes but mainly because its so darn good and just so easy!

Chicken Pesto


1.5 lbs chicken
1 Cup Parmesan Cheese
2 table spoons vegetable oil or butter
1 Cup Pesto (costco pesto is the best!)
2-3 tomatoes
1 onion
1 clove garlic
4 cups cooked pasta

Cut the chicken into half inch pieces and roll in dried Parmesan cheese. Cook in a pan with vegetable oil or butter until almost starting to whiten. Add in onion and garlic and cook until chicken and onion are cooked. Add it 1/2 cup pesto and turn heat to low and stirring occasionally. (This is when I like to start on the rolling out roll dough and putting it in the oven so they come out same time as the pasta is done:) Add in cooked pasta, remaining pesto and tomato. Stir around until all warm and enjoy!


Rolls

Any roll recipe (choose your favorite)
1 cup of butter

Preheat oven to 425. Melt one cup of butter. Roll out half of the dough into a circle. coat it with butter. Take a pizza cutter and cut triangles about 1.5 inches thick at the top. After rolling place on pan and spread more butter on top of rolls. Repeat with the remaining dough. Cook for 9-14 minutes.

My Version of England’s Pasty

Okay Everyone! This is a recipe that I am super excited to share with you. My family used to go to England almost every summer when I was growing up. We actually spend almost a year that at one time. Some of my favorite memories are from there and when I look back on my childhood all my memories are from London England. One of my favorite meals there that we used to get were Pastys. They are a mix of meat and vegetables wrapped in a warm crust and seasoned with amazing british magic. Okay I know that was cheesy but really mine are good but don’t even come close to the ones served on little corner bakeries in London. But here you go!

I have made this 2 different ways. The first recipe and my favorite is made with beef.

White bread dough (enough to make a loaf)

2 lbs ground beef

1 onion

1 Swedish turnip (if you have one)

1 green pepper

4 pealed potatoes

1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp red pepper

1 tbs italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 425

First you need to get some white bread dough. I always make it from scratch but as it kinda takes a while to all put together you can do canned or frozen or whatever kind they have.

As you’re letting the bread rise (or unthaw) you brown the meat.

While your meat is browning cut up your potatoes in to small pieces. It doesn’t matter how large just as small or big as you’d like.

Add in the garlic and onion right before the meat browns. Lower temperature medium low.

Slowly add in the turnip, potatoes. pepper and seasonings. Put on simmer and cover.

Take a small piece of dough about 1 1/2 inches and roll out into a circle.

Put about 2-3 tbs of meat and veggies in to the middle add a little cheese on top and close up. Put in on a pan.

Cook for 12-17 minutes or until bread becomes golden on top.

Then take out and enjoy! But be careful because the potatoes are HOT! They will stay pretty warm for a while though closed up because the potatoes will hold in the heat:)

Recipe #2

Pasty with Chicken

Do every thing exactly the same except use

2 lbs chicken instead of beef

1 can cream of mushroom soup instead of potatoes and turnip

and add in 2 tsp flour to thicken the sauce

Also add in a bunch of mushrooms

This recipe is a lot creamier and lighter if you like that better. But it’s up to you! Enjoy!

Emeril Lagasse's Egg Fu Yung

So this week I made Emeril Lagasse's Egg Fu Yung. I have to say it was pretty good. We added in potatoes that that made it a little more awesome. If you make it (which you should sometime) make sure to cover it all in the dressing when you're done. It's really great!

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• Pinch cayenne

For the Egg Fu Yung:

• 1 cup shredded cooked chicken or pork
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup finely sliced celery
• 1/2 cup finely sliced yellow onions
• 1/2 cup finely sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
• 1 teaspoon Essence, recipe follows
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pinch cayenne
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

To make the sauce, in a medium saucepan, combine the chicken broth and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer. In a small bowl combine the cornstarch and water and stir until dissolved. Slowly add to the hot broth, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Add the oil and cayenne and remove from the heat. Cover to keep warm.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the oil. Stir well to combine.

In a wok or large skillet, heat 6 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the meat/vegetable/egg mixture and stir-fry for 4 minutes, so that the eggs set and it lightly browns. Remove from the heat and serve immediately with the warm sauce.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Comfort Food

Everyone has something that when they're down they just like to gobble up. There are so many different things that I really enjoy when I'm feeling down, sick or just need a little boost. A few include...

1. Apple Crisp (so east to make and so amazing with warm cookies)

2. My homemade Chocolate Chip cookies (I plan on putting the recipe up soon)

3. Mac and Cheese

4. Hot chocolate

5. Egg nog

6. Chicken parmesan with pesto and Cavatapppi

So what about you? What's your favorite comfort food?

CookWise and BakeWise

If I were to suggest any cookbooks to everyone in the world it would be CookWise and BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher. Shirley O. Corriher is a scientist with a passion for food. With the crazy mix of both she has figured out how to calculate ingredients and fix incorrect recipes (you would really be surprised to see how many recipes in cookbooks actually give the wrong amounts of ingredients), make perfect combinations of foods, teaches of the importance of certain cooking techniques that we tend to skip over or simplify, and more. I heard her being interviewed on NPR one sunday and went to a Barnes and Noble the next day to check out her books, and was instantly hooked. Shirley’s books are amazing and I suggest everyone pick up a copy at a book store and just glance through the first few pages and I promise you will be engaged. She has spent years talking and working with the masters in the culinary field around the country to figure out how to create the perfect cakes, breads, meats, cheeses, and so much more. I’m not going to dive into all the great things in this book but one of my favorite parts of the book is at the top of each recipe there is a box that on top says What This Recipe Shows. She explains where and how she came upon the recipe, why it is the best, and, what she has done in each recipe to perfect and make it better. Yet again, they really are amazing books and I urge you to go and check them out.

Welcome to My New Blog!

Hi! If you're looking at this blog right now then you probably know that it used to be Habitually Beautiful. A blog dedicated to beautiful pictures, but, I have decided to completely change it to a cooking and baking blog. I am in love with food and have figured it was about time that I dedicated a blog to it. In this blog I will be sharing my experiences with food; The good, the bad and the disastrous. I've been cooking and baking for a while but I am still learning. I will share recipes, pictures, and most of all things I'm learning. I hope you enjoy and spread the word about my little project! Thanks!

Here are some pictures of some things I've made in the past:

Orange Chicken

Orange Torte

Deadly Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate Chip Pie

My Famous Molten Lava Cakes

Samoas Bars

Fruit Pizza

Orange Rolls